


Storm's Revenge | Book 1: The Precipice

by SolemnMonocle



Series: Storm's Revenge [1]
Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Complete, Gen, No Smut, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Original Clans (Warriors), POV Alternating, POV Original Character, POV Third Person, RiverClan (Warriors), Series, ShadowClan (Warriors)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-04-05 05:57:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 54,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14037645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SolemnMonocle/pseuds/SolemnMonocle
Summary: It began with a warrior named Mapleclaw who was banished from her clan with the blood of her clanmates still fresh on her claws. Riverclan hoped they'd never see her face again. But now the tides have changed and misfortune is on the rise. Storm, a rogue and known enemy of the clans has reemerged after seasons of silence. With him, a familiar she-cat now calling herself Tansy and a growing band of rogues with one goal in their hearts.The end of the four clans.Once and for all.





	1. Cats of the Clans

**Author's Note:**

> Part 1 of a 3 part series based around original warrior characters. All characters herein are originals, placed into the four original clans (Thunder, Shadow, River, and Wind) in their original forest territory. Any similarities between characters and canon cats is coincidental. This story is not meant to connect to canon in any manner and does not take into account any lore or additions after The Prophecy Begins. Therefore, some events and situations may not adhere to the most recent canonized lore such as any information from Dawn of the Clans or Omen of the Stars.  
> A partnership piece done by two artists. Character bios, artwork, and updates can all be found on the fic's tumblr blog.  
> https://aroguenamedstorm.tumblr.com/

Riverclan  
[Leader]  
Springstar  
\- She-cat with long grey and white fur, small. Yellow eyes.

[Deputy]  
Willowfur  
\- Sleek and slender she-cat with grey fur. Green eyes

[Medicine Cat]  
Nightsky  
\- Jet black, long haired tom. Green eyes

[Elders]  
Nettlebush  
\- Old, calico tom with brown eyes. 

[Queens]  
Foxtail  
\- White she-cat with reddish points  
Dovetail  
\- Grey, long-haired she-cat. Blue eyes.

[Warriors]  
Ashfall  
\- Massive grey tom with a darker face and paws  
\- Apprentice: Cinderpaw  
Crowflight  
\- Small tom, black. Short hair and curled ears. Yellow eyes.  
Shadowfrost  
\- Black tom, short fur. Yellow eyes. A small, white star on his chest. Ragged left ear and a scar across the left side of his face. His left eye is cloudy and blind.  
Badgerfoot  
\- Stocky, muscular, she-cat with a bobbed tail, long white stripe from the top of her nose to the tip of her tail, white underbelly and black paws. Yellow eyes.  
Hawkshade  
\- Large, tabby and white tom. Orange eyes. Long fur.  
Briartooth  
\- Reddish fur, ruff around his neck, green eyes. Tom.  
Squirrelblaze  
\- Ruddy furred she-cat with a bushy squirrel-like tail, golden eyes.  
Sparrowwing  
\- Large chocolate brown tom with golden eyes.  
Copperblaze  
\- Large, slim tabby tom with yellow eyes. Grey is beginning to dot his muzzle and face.  
Stormfly  
\- Grey and brown tabby tom with white fur and a bobbed tail. Yellow eyes.  
Snowstorm  
\- Tom with pale fur with pale reddish tints and yellow eyes.  
Swallowfeather  
\- Large, long-haired calico she-cat. Green eyes.  
Amberspeck  
\- She-cat. Has patches of orange tabby and black. One orange eye. One blue. Medium fur.  
Icestripe  
\- Grey tabby tom with long fur. Yellow eyes. Big and fluffy.

[Apprentices]  
Stonepaw  
\- Small, slight and skinny tom. Chocolate brown and green eyes  
Dawnpaw  
\- She-cat with long, red fur, bushy tail. Green eyes. Small and lean.  
Cinderpaw  
\- Creamy white, short furred tom. Angled face. Big ears. Typical, brown siamese markings. Big blue eyes. Small and thin.

[Kits]  
Featherkit  
\- Grey tabby and white she-cat. Fluffy. Green eyes.  
Owlkit  
\- Tabby and white tom. Small, fluffy. Golden eyes.  
Leafkit  
\- Sooty grey she-cat with blue eyes.  
 

Shadowclan  
[Leader]  
Blackstar  
\- Pure white medium hair tom with big, black paws, ears, and tail.

[Deputy]  
Riverwind  
\- Cinnamon point shorthair tom, fairly bulky, blue eyes.  
\- Apprentice: Lionpaw

[Medicine Cat]  
Smallfoot  
\- Black and white short haired tom with a scrunched face. Yellow eyes. Was born with a small and shriveled front paw.  
\- Apprentice: Deerpaw

[Queens]  
Greypelt  
\- White, fluffy she-cat with deep blue eyes and a grey face.  
Mothbriar  
\- Small, grey lynx point she-cat.

[Elders]  
Oakleaf  
\- Once a black tom, now his fur is covered in splotches of white from old age. Is missing the tip of his tail and one ear. Yellow eyes.  
Patchfur  
\- Dilute calico she-cat with yellow eyes  
Brightpelt  
\- She-cat with bright orange fur that is becoming more sprinkled with white, yellow eyes, rather large

[Warriors]  
Sharptooth  
\- A very large, jet black tom with bright green eyes and overgrown teeth. Muscular.  
Spottedpetal  
\- Light tan with dark brown spots. Larger than most she-cats, but slim. Orange, almost brown eyes.  
Nightpelt  
\- A beautiful jet black she-cat with a long coat, long legs, graceful appearance, green eyes, longer than average teeth.  
Duskcloud  
\- Long-hared, dark grey she-cat with darker grey stripes and golden eyes.  
Stormrunner  
\- Black and white, large she-cat with golden eyes  
Darkstripe  
\- Large, fluffy tom with green eyes and slight grey tabby markings.  
Ratface  
\- Super skinny tom with short, downy fur. Leggy, gray, orange eyes.  
Hareleap  
\- Gray tabby tom with golden eyes  
Weaseltail  
\- Skinny, brown she-cat with very long legs. Brown eyes.  
Adderstrike  
\- Long-legged, skinny tom. Creamy white with pale tabby splotches on his shoulders, haunches, and upper head. Bright orange eyes.

[Apprentices]  
Lionpaw  
\- Already gigantic orange and white tom. Long hair. Orange eyes.  
\- Mentor: Riverwind  
Dustpaw  
\- White lynx point she-cat with slight striping along her haunches, legs, and back. Deep blue eyes. Pure white muzzle. Small.  
\- Mentor: Stormrunner  
Deerpaw  
\- Small round, calico she-cat with green eyes  
\- Mentor: Smallfoot  
Lynxpaw  
\- Very small, round, fluffy she-cat with green eyes  
\- Mentor: Duskcloud

   
Thunderclan  
[Leader]  
Rainstar  
\- Gray tabby tom with white chest, numerous scars across his flanks and chest, yellow eyes

[Deputy]  
Tigerpelt  
\- Large brown tabby she-cat with green eyes

[Warriors]  
Ravenpelt  
\- Large black tom with long fur, and a particularly thick, long neck ruff. Brown eyes.  
Sunfire  
\- A beautiful, large orange mackerel tabby she-cat with green eyes.  
Lionfang  
\- Large, golden tabby tom with green eyes.  
Meadowblossom  
\- Tortoisehell she-cat with green eyes.  
Aspenshadow  
\- Large, white tom with a black muzzle and orange eyes.

[Apprentices]  
Silverpaw  
\- Silver base tom with distinctive black spotting. Blue eyes.  
Larkpaw  
\- Silver base she-cat, the spitting image of her brother, Silverpaw. Blue eyes.  
Robinpaw  
\- Tortoiseshell tom with bright orange-red chest.  
Birchpaw  
\- Tortoishell tom with green eyes.

 

Windclan  
[Leader]  
Smallstar  
\- Small medium hair tabby tom with a white chest.

[Deputy]  
Ambereye  
\- Thin, black tom with piercing amber eyes.

[Medicine Cat]  
Mosspelt  
\- Large tabby tom with blue eyes and a scarred muzzle.  
Mudsplash  
\- Skinny, brown and white tom with green eyes. 

[Queens]  
Thawsong  
\- Tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes.  
[Warriors]  
Whitewhisker  
\- Calico tom with brown eyes.  
Rabbitclaw  
\- Orange tabby she-cat with yellow eyes  
Breezepelt  
\- Skinny, sand colored tabby tom with blue eyes  
Dappletuft  
\- Calico she-cat with brown eyes.

[Kits]  
Brownkit  
\- Completely brown tom with green eyes.  
Smallkit  
\- Small brown and white tom with green eyes.  
Lakekit  
\- Tortoishell she-cat with green eyes.

   
Cats Outside the Clans  
Storm  
\- Large grey tom with countless scars. Blue-green eyes.  
Tansy  
\- Tawny she-cat with a grey back and golden-brown undersides. Green eyes.  
Scrap  
\- Small, black and white she-cat. Yellow eyes. Back leg is horrible twisted. Tail is just a stump.  
Ratter  
\- Mangey tom, missing patches brown of fur.  
Toffee  
\- Gray tabby Tom with numerous battle scars, both ears are torn, numerous scars on his neck and chest and sides, heavily muscled and tough looking, green eyesAmethyst  
\- Beautiful tabby and white, long hair she-cat. Sleek, large. Green eyes.  
Flint  
\- Beautiful white tom with one blue eye and one green. One grey paw and grey tail tip.  
Rivermist  
\- Short fur, brown and white she-cat. Big, blue eyes. Stocky.  
Mochi  
\- Silver tabby she-cat. Green eyes.  
Snow  
\- Snow-white she-cat with a narrow face. Very small. Blue eyes. 

 


	2. Prologue

The night was clear and cold. Not a single cloud hung in the sky and the full moon cast a white glaze upon the dark world below. Every little leaf and blade of grass rippled as if covered in a thousand tiny stars. The world seemed to glisten and on any other day, the forest would have been nothing short of beautiful. But on this day, a tension hung in the air. In the midst of Fourtrees, not a word was spoken above a whisper and the fur on every cat’s back stood on end. They looked to and fro, looking for answers. Some cast their eyes to the Great Rock, but nothing changed.  
Shadowclan was nowhere to be seen.  
Smallstar, shifted uncomfortably on his paws from where he sat on the great rock. Beside the other two leaders, he was a mere speck. A blimp. A small, tabby with a white chest and yellow eyes beside two glistening giants seemingly made purely of starlight. He glanced to the grey and white she-cat beside him, but Springstar’s eyes were on the sky.  
Surely, Shadowclan would not risk Starclan’s wrath for not showing up?  
Only Rainstar seemed willing to break the uncomfortable silence. His white fur glistened in the moonlight, black stripes made invisible in the glowing white of his pelt. With his majestic, arched snout and bright blue eyes, he looked like a member of Starclan, descended upon the world to bless them all with his presence. As he rose to his paws, however, his old joints cracked and groaned and the once great leader was forced to stretch out his weary legs a moment before rising to address the cats nestled underneath the Great Rock. Though he had served Thunderclan faithfully for many a year, none could deny that the legend standing before them could not be much longer for this world.  
There was no need to even yowl. Every eye was on him, every mouth closed in anticipation.  
“It is unlike Birchstar to test Starclan’s wrath… surely there is a reason for Shadowclan’s absence…?” Rainstar paused, yellow eyes drifting between Smallstar and Springstar.  
Smallstar shifted from paw to paw, eyes watching the rocky surface beneath his feet as he spoke. “We have no choice, but to hold the Gathering without them, I suppose.” The leader had a habit of fidgeting as he talked and each word spoken came out as if muttered through a mouthful of freshkill. None the less, there was a secret power behind it. Something about the fire that glistened in his eyes assured even the most fool-hardy tom that Smallstar had not been made leader without reason. “Windclan has heard nothing from them. Perhaps Birchstar simply does not wish to join?”  
The talking ceased as an elder yowled from the back of the cats. “Shadowclan’s come!”  
Almost immediately, the congregation parted as three cats came padding into the clearing, looking more like a funeral procession than a great clan going to a Gathering. All eyes scanned over the three and words were whispered between those gathered. Even the leaders could not help their curiosity as all eyes fell on the large tom leading his two clanmates.  
Though there was an undeniable strength that rippled beneath the white tom’s pelt, there was an unspeakable weariness there too. Each black paw lifted and set upon the ground seemed like a terrible labor and though he held his head high, his blue eyes were filled with a distracted, blurry haze as if he was only half-seeing all the things around him. Those who knew Blacktail mewed their greetings, but they fell on deaf ears. The tom seemed only fixated on reaching the spot reserved for him by the other deputies. On either side of him walked a small, brown apprentice and a large, black tom with overgrown canines that poked out from the sides of his lips. Neither looked to the other cats, but simply escorted their deputy to his spot and sat close by, casting earnest glances in his direction every so often, though they did not utter a sound.  
The silence that fell upon the clearing was so deeply felt that every breath, every shuffle, every flick of a whisker sounded like thunder. All eyes watched the deputy as he very carefully sat down beside the others and curled his black tail about his paws. Only then did the haze vanish from his eyes and he looked up to the leaders with a silent, earnest plea to speak.  
“Blacktail?” Springstar meowed, stepping up to the edge of the rock and peering into the darkness of Shadowclan territory, but these three were the only Shadowclan cats she could see. No others were entering the clearing after them. “Where is the rest of your clan? Where is Birchstar?”  
The grief-ridden blue eyes that looked up into Springstar’s froze her in her place. Blacktail took a moment, mouth agape, but not a sound coming out. His ears flattened against his head and he took the time to lick his chest to hide the pain he feared was all too plain on his face. The energy in the clearing was almost palpable as every cat hung on his movements, tense and waiting for a response that couldn’t come fast enough.  
Only once Blacktail was certain that he could go on did he raise his eyes to the gathered clans once more. “Birchstar is dead,” the deputy reported in a voice that echoed across the clearing despite the grief laden within it. “I have come straight from sitting vigil…”  
Cats around him yowled in dismay. The other deputies stood up in shock. Springstar and Rainstar both hung their heads with grief. Only when the clamor had slowly fizzled out and died did Rainstar dare to speak up, looking down towards the deputy with soft eyes, filled with nothing, but sympathy for the tom.  
“I am sorry to hear this. Birchstar was always a close ally and a welcome sight at these gatherings-“  
“And a welcome voice in times of trouble…” Springstar added softly, expression troubled as her mind wandered back to memories that were still far too fresh and brutal to recall.  
“How did he come to pass…?” Smallstar requested tentatively. “He was old, but not terribly so. Rainstar and I have both walked this forest many more moons.”  
Another pause fell as Blacktail looked to the black tom who had accompanied him. The warrior nodded, hoping it would offer his friend some comfort as the deputy slowly rose to his paws and looked upon the clearing, his eyes hardening. He seemed to rise to his full height, then, fur bristling ever so slightly as he raised his voice, sounding less like one encumbered by grief with every word he spoke.  
“That’s just the thing,” Blacktail began, teeth almost bared as he forced out each syllable. The grief within his eyes was slowly replaced with a fire, though his demeanor remained calm aside from his bristling hackles. “Birchstar was killed in our own territory…”  
Murmuring began among those gathered, but Blacktail was determined to finish what he started.  
“Not by a fox or a badger or monster!” He hissed, voice rising in volume until it bounced across the trees like the heavens themselves were laying judgement upon those assembled. “Storm has returned to the forest and claimed the last three of Birchstar’s lives!”  
The clearing echoed with chaotic shouts and cries of dismay. Every cat seemed determined to say their piece, shouting as if they wished for Starclan itself to quake with the clamor of their exclamations. “That’s impossible!” “He was driven out!” “How can one rogue kill a leader in his own territory!?”  
“Silence!” Rainstar bellowed and a hush fell almost instantly. “Let Blacktail speak,” the leader advised more gently as he turned his gaze back to Blacktail who offered a slight nod in thanks. The tom turned his icy blue eyes on Springstar as he continued.  
“I believe he plans to rid the forest of the clans once and for all… but that’s not what troubles me the most…” The Shadowclan continued, unable to squelch the anger that continued to rise in his tone. “When we went back and examined the area, we caught another scent; one we are all, no doubt, familiar with…”  
Springstar shifted uncomfortably, unsure why she of all cats should face the tom’s fiery gaze, but his next words seemed to freeze her very soul.  
“… Mapleclaw was with him.”


	3. The Kittypet

All around him was darkness. The trees stretched far above, threatening to engulf him. Their bare, leafless limbs stretched up into a sky with no stars, no moon, no light, and around him hung a suffocating fog that swirled and swallowed him in its billowing depths. All around, eyes glistened. Blue, gold, green, they all stared at him from the depths of darkness. The hunger within them sent a chill down his spine.  
“Ashfall.”  
The call echoed throughout the darkness, calling infinitely, endlessly, hounding him from all sides. It rolled across the ground and flowed down his spine, a fearsome, deadly cold. They were getting closer and he couldn’t help feeling like a mouse, cornered between a rock and the hungry claws of his pursuer.  
“Ashfall!”  
Ashfall felt a paw prod into his fur and stirred with a slight, startled yelp. He twitched awake, knocking the tom that had been leaning over him off his paws. Multiple warriors raised a cry of protest as Copperblaze fell on top of them in a panicked scramble of apologies and flailing limbs. Ashfall cursed and slowly rose to his paws, a yawn escaping his lips. He quickly twisted to lick his back and hide his raised hackles from the old tom as he managed to right himself without stepping on any more warriors’ tails.  
The sun must have just been rising as light barely filtered into the den, the warm yellow of morning overshadowed by the soft reds and browns of dawn. Reeds stretched above their heads, expertly interwoven with brilliant, glistening bird plumage and bright green moss and along the sides of the den were various shells and iridescent pebbles, but in the morning, all was muted and dull.  
“Had a bad dream…?” Copperblaze requested playfully as he looked Ashfall over. Though his voice was kind, Ashfall knew all too well that the old tom’s golden eyes never missed a single thing as they glowed in the den’s half-light. Sometimes it felt like lying to Copperblaze was impossible which certainly made Ashfall’s rearing difficult, to say the least.  
“It was just a dream,” Ashfall assured mildly with one last lick to flatten the thick grey fur of his chest, frustrated when it bounced back up as if possessed. Copperblaze noticed the gesture, but mercifully kept quiet. Ashfall rose to his paws and shoved his way through the small den entrance, fur snagging on outstretched branches as the archway raked against his back. _I’m too big for my own, damn den._ Light was just beginning to filter through the great, leafy branches of the ancient willowtree in the center of camp, scattering light across the flattened, grassy floor, worn down by centuries of pawprints.  
Ashfall quietly made his way along to the edge of the river that encircled the island the Riverclan cats called home. He squeezed through the protective reeds that surrounded the camp and padded along the water’s edge, listening to it gurgle and splash about the stones untik he reached a nice, shallow bit near the nursery where kits could harmlessly splash in the water and learn to swim without queen’s fearing for their lives. The gentle hum of the world offered Ashfall a moment to gather his thoughts and assure him that the smoothed pebbles beneath his paws were the true reality… not whatever horrors had hidden themselves in his dreams.  
There was a rustle as Copperblaze carefully sat down beside Ashfall and looked into the depths of the water as if searching for whatever Ashfall found so intent lying within. “You’d think you could see the future with how hard you’re staring into this stream,” Copperblaze chuckled and gently nudged Ashfall with his shoulder. “I don’t have your gift, I’m afraid. All I can see is how much you’ve grown… and to think I was once the biggest cat in the clan…” the red tabby sighed and shook his head, eyes never leaving the water as he spoke.  
_Trying to play the sympathy card to get me to speak?_ Ashfall almost scoffed, but Copperblaze’s expression turned more serious as he continued.  
Copperblaze sighed and turned his bright, golden eyes upon Ashfall. Ashfall could almost swear there was something akin to fear lying within them, or was it grief? Both were unbelievable. Copperblaze had always been one of the bravest and truest warriors Ashfall had ever known, so what could he possibly be grieving for? _Birchstar?_ “We need to go on patrol… to check for Storm and Mapleclaw.”  
And suddenly, everything came flooding back to him. The Gathering, though it’d only been a few days ago, felt centuries away. Ashfall felt a chill run down his spine at the memory of Blacktail’s news. The way he’d looked at Springstar… the way all the cats around them had bristled... _“Surely Riverclan wouldn’t have been so foolish as to have spared her life?”_ If it hadn’t been for a sudden cloud cast over the moon, the Gathering might have broken into a fight.  
“We should have killed Mapleclaw while we had the chance…” Ashfall confessed softly. “If she’s working with Storm-“  
“There’s no point discussing such trivialities now,” Copperblaze interrupted sharply and rose to his paws. “What’s happened is past and now we must do all we can to protect the clan. Undoubtedly she’ll want revenge-”  
Ashfall hesitated, perplexed by the tom’s sudden anger, but Copperblaze’s eyes were unreadable. The anger vanished from his face almost as quickly as it had appeared and a smile quickly replaced it as Ashfall heard the patter of tiny, bouncing paws fast approaching.  
“Daddy, Daddy!” Before either of them could react, two kits seemed to materialize and tackle Copperblaze to the ground. He flopped over, splashing into the shallow water while the younglings scampered all over him like he was some great mountain they needed to conquer. The largest of the litter, a red tabby much like Copperblaze clambered on top of his fallen father with head raised high and yellow eyes glistening.  
“I’m the greatest warrior the forest has ever known!” He yowled, his voice echoing through the early morning air like a hawk’s cry. Ashfall pitied all the weary warriors who’d been on the evening patrol and just had their much-needed sleep interrupted.  
“No, you’re not!” The smaller she-kit declared and quickly tackled her larger brother and snatched his ear in her jaws. She too was a tabby, but her fur was grey, like her mothers, with darker grey stripes throughout. They both tumbled off Copperblaze, hissing and growling and batting at each other with sheathed claws. After a couple seconds, however, things were promptly decided as the tom lost his footing on a slippery pebbled and flopped on his side with a little splash. His sister fell on top of him, jaws clasped around his ear as her tiny paws bounded at his chest to keep him down.  
“Owowow! Okay! Leafkit, that hurts!” The tom squealed and kicked out his legs to free himself, but Leafkit was stronger than she looked, her sleek body expertly hiding the already finely tuned muscles that rippled beneath. No doubt they’d be apprentices before they knew it with strength like that.  
Copperblaze rolled back onto his paws, now sopping wet, and gingerly grasped Leafkit by the scruff to pull her off her brother. “Alright now. Leafkit, leave Owlkit be…” He mumbled through a mouthful of fluff and carefully set down Leafkit beside her brother, doing his best to keep a paw between them as Leafkit’s yellow eyes flashed with a dangerous light and she did her best to make a second attempt at her brother.  
Ashfall sat back down and curled his tail about his paws, content to watch the show. However, that only seemed to make things worse as Leafkit’s wide, eager eyes locked onto Ashfall’s fluffy, grey tail. Before he could react, the she-kit had pounced on the tail and did her best to engulf the long fur in her tiny, pink mouth, white paws frantically scrambling to get a good grip. Owlkit bounded up after, eyes locked on Ashfall, teeth bared in a gleeful grin.  
“Hiya, Uncle Ashfall!” Owlkit squeaked. “You guys going to go do cool warrior things today?”  
“I-“ Ashfall began through clenched teeth as Leafkit chomped down hard on his tail, making him inwardly want to squeal in agony.  
“Can I come!?” Owlkit piped up eagerly before Ashfall could barely get out a word. Again, Ashfall opened his mouth, but the kit spoke more quickly. “I’ll be really good! I won’t slow you all down and I will fight any cats that get in our way!” The young tom declared, fluffing out his chest and stretching onto the very tips of his toes to try to appear larger, but he was a mere speck lying within Ashfall’s massive shadow.  
Copperblaze chuckled and licked the top of his son’s head. “I’m sure you’re ferocious, but you still have to wait a little while, alright?”  
“But dad!” Owlkit exclaimed. Leafkit even released Ashfall’s tail to cast her father a pleading glance. “PLEASE!?” They both exclaimed in what sounded like a very well-rehearsed unison.  
Copperblaze rolled his eyes and looked to Ashfall in amusement. “You weren’t this hard… neither was Springstar…” he sighed and shook his head, taking a moment to undoubtedly consider what answer would get them away from the excitable kits, but also appease their appetite for adventure. However, a playful glint came into his eye as he opened his mouth slightly and just lingered that way, not speaking a word while the silent tension rose. The tom obviously just enjoyed watching both kits stretch up, straining for the slightest sound out of his mouth.  
“I’ll make a deal with you,” he bargained after what felt like an eternity. “Be good little kits and ask the elders if they need help with anything and I’ll go and talk to Springstar about making you all apprentices, okay?”  
“Me too?” The voice was so soft it was almost lost to the slight breeze. Ashfall swiveled his head as he heard approaching pawsteps. A beautiful, blue-grey she-cat with shining blue eyes came padding up, paws gracefully stepping from pebble to pebble with the certainty of a veteran even as a small, grey tabby kit weaved between her front paws, cautious to never step out from her mother’s protective shadow. She had been the one to speak. She looked up to her father with pleading green eyes, filled with a fearful innocence.  
“Of course. You too, Featherkit,” Copperblaze purred and carefully strode over to his mate’s cheek. “Dovetail, I don’t envy you,” he claimed jokingly.  
Dovetail scoffed and nuzzled into Copperblaze’s neck. “You better get these three apprenticeships before I rip a hole in the nursery and run away,” she chuckled. “Do you know the trouble that they give poor Foxtail? The sweet darling’s probably days away from her kitting and there they all are, bouncing around her, yowling and tussling in the middle of the night-“ Dovetail heaved an exasperated sigh and turned her soft gaze on Ashfall.  
“You alright, Sweetie?” She requested gently, nudging past Copperblaze to lick Ashfall’s chin as it was the best she could reach with Ashfall’s massive size. Ashfall was taken aback, as he always was by his mother’s attentiveness. She had barely glanced at him and yet she already noticed he was still haunted by that dream.  
“I’m fine, Mom…” Ashfall murmured in mild embarrassment, quickly rubbing his chin with a paw as if to hide the shame of his mother’s unbounded affection. He had long-since been a warrior and didn’t need such coddling in front of the kits. “If you should be concerned for anyone, you should be concerned for yourself with this handful of trouble,” Ashfall insisted in jest with a flick of his tail, hoping the joke would divert attention from his own uneasiness. _This was the third night that I’ve had that same dream…_  
Dovetail purred in amusement, but it was cut short by a squeak. Owlkit had turned his tyrannical attention away from Ashfall and had tackled Featherkit while she was void of the safety of her mother’s paws. The small she-kit instantly flopped over, shivering and hiding underneath her tail while her brother gently grabbed an ear and tried to pull her to her paws. “Featherkit, come on! If you ever want to be a warrior, you have to learn how to fight!”  
“Owlkit, let me go!” Featherkit squealed, quickly squirming away and dashing over to Dovetail and Ashfall. She promptly took refuge in the thick fluff of Ashfall’s tail and covered her face with her tiny paws, shaking terribly all the while.  
“Owlkit!” Dovetail barked, whirling on the kits, her mood so quickly turning from gentle queen to drill sergeant. “You know better than to scare your sister!” Ashfall almost recoiled at memories of all the times that wrath had been directed towards him.  
“It’s not my fault she’s a coward!” Owlkit huffed, flopping back onto his haunches and twisting about to lick his tail with a nonchalant flick of his ear.  
“Yeah! Featherkit needs to toughen up. She’s no fun!” Leafkit insisted, though she didn’t sound nearly as confident as her cocky brother.  
Dovetail’s ears flattened and a snarl rose in her throat. Both kits hopped to their paws and stiffened without even being ordered. “I won’t hear another word of it from either of you. Maybe it’s intimidating to be attacked by a cat twice your size? Ever thought of that?” Dovetail spat and the widened eyes from both kits indicated that she had made her point. Dovetail huffed and slowly sat back down, allowing her hackles to settle. “Now apologize to your sister,” she spat as an aside, her gaze resting back on Ashfall as she spoke to both kits.  
“We’re sorry,” Leafkit and Owlkit mewed in unison, heads hung in shame. Featherkit remained nestled next to Ashfall, though he thought that she might have begun to shake less.  
“Alright, now get on to the elder’s den. All of you,” Dovetail insisted more gently with a swish of her tail. The kits scampered off and the queen turned her attention to Featherkit, carefully plucking the kit up in her jaws. “So sorry, Ashfall…” Dovetail managed to mumble around her kit’s fur before she promptly turned and carried her daughter back into the safety of the nursery.  
Copperblaze and Ashfall sat in silence for a moment, indulging in the unique type of quiet that could only be had when all kits vacated the premises. Unfortunately, duty called and both had to accept that they had a patrol to get on with and slowly rose to their paws. “How about you get Cinderpaw to come along?” Copperblaze suggested. “I’ll wake up Shadowfrost!” He called and was gone before Ashfall could object.  
Shadowfrost. The tom was never Ashfall’s first choice for a companion, especially because he and Cinderpaw got along about as well as a cornered badger and a fox, but Copperblaze had a fondness for Shadowfrost. He must see something in the tom, but Ashfall had never been able to shrug off how much the tom looked like his father. If he could get past that, maybe…  
Ashfall padded over to the apprentice’s den, being careful not to wake any more cats than had already been awoken by Owlkit’s cry. Thankfully, the camp was still silent. _Cinderpaw might still be asleep. Good. That cat needs to learn to rest._ Too many times, Ashfall had found his apprentice bouncing about, practicing his hunting crouch or a fighting move in the complete dead of night. He was always so eager to please and prove himself that it felt like he never slept. In some ways, it was a nice trait to have, but the complaints about “that obnoxious apprentice keeping me up at night” certainly made mentorship tiring.  
Astonishingly, the young tom was still curled up in his nest when Ashfall popped his head into the den. Curled up in his nest of green moss, Cinderpaw’s cream pelt appeared almost white and Ashfall was astonished by how small the tom was. Curled up so that you could not see his long, dark legs, the tom could easily pass for a kit, no bigger than Owlkit. His small stature was only made more apparent beside the other two apprentices even though he was the oldest of the three by several moons.  
The brown lump nestled closest to Cinderpaw, Stonepaw, had never been particularly large either, but he still had good, strong shoulders and a large head that made him look like a true warrior. Beside him was Dawnpaw who dwarfed them both with her long, luscious red fur, tinged with darker brown specks along her back and lighter, tan flecks along her stomach. Stretched out as she was now, she easily looked the size of both toms combined and had a fierce temper to match.  
Ashfall smiled at the thought, but the sight saddened him too. This was the least number of apprentices Riverclan had had in many seasons. Before Starclan smiled upon them (or so Ashfall hoped was the case) and dropped Cinderpaw on the edge of their territory, Dawnpaw and Stonepaw had been the only apprentices. A harsh, long winter had taken Stonepaw’s mother and siblings and forced Squirrelblaze to only give birth to one, large, mewling she-kit.  
“Ashfall?” Cinderpaw slowly raised his head with a slight twitch of his hind leg. He sniffed the air a little as his sleepy, deep blue eyes slowly opened and looked about the world. He must have spent most of the night practicing again… _At least he’s doing so quietly now._ Slowly, Cinderpaw’s skinny body unwound from a tight ball, revealing his long, thin brown legs. He rose wordlessly, yawning and stretching. Somehow the dramatic arch of his back and the tense stretch of his legs from toe to thin, brown tail tip only made the tom appear smaller and thinner as if he could just vanish into dust with a gentle breeze.  
“Patrol?” Cinderpaw yawned, turning his dark blue eyes on Ashfall. Though Ashfall had his concerns about the abilities of his young apprentice, he could not deny the fire in his eyes and the way Cinderpaw would screw up the sides of his mouth in a sort of grimace whenever he set his mind to something. Whenever he saw that face, Ashfall knew deterring his apprentice was practically hopeless.  
Ashfall nodded and turned to lead the way out. “Come on, we don’t have time to wait for you to wake up! If you’re not getting to sleep at night, that’s not my problem!” He called and bounded off to the hollowed reed thicket the clan used as the camp entrance. Strict, tough, strong. If Cinderpaw was ever to be accepted by this clan, Ashfall feared he’d have to work him for all he was worth… and that didn’t always mean being the kindest. Cinderpaw had to prove himself, whatever the cost.  
Copperblaze sat at the camp entrance, quietly talking with a black tom. “Excellent,” the tom droned as his eyes flicked over to them. His fur was black as night with the only exception being a small, white mark on his chest. He turned his golden gaze upon Ashfall and his apprentice, revealing his horribly scarred left eye. “Remind me again, Copperblaze, why a patrol as important as this one should have a kittypet pretender along for the ride?”  
Cinderpaw visibly bristled and bared his fangs as he bounded up to Ashfall’s side. “I’m not a kittypet!” He spat, but the tom just rolled his eyes and turned to head out the tunnel.  
“Shadowfrost, try not to torment the apprentice,” Copperblaze sighed. “We need all the warriors we can get, no matter where they came from.”  
“Even if they still reek of twoleg?” Shadowfrost scrunched up his nose and scoffed. “Whatever. Let’s just get this done with so I can get as far away from this kittypet filth as possible,” he declared, striding through the entrance first with his tail and head high. He didn’t deign to look at such a low thing as Cinderpaw.  
Cinderpaw bristled and inched forward, but Ashfall carefully blocked him with a paw. “Don’t… you’ll just give him what he wants.”  
“Prove him wrong with your loyalty, not your temper,” Copperblaze smiled warmly at Cinderpaw despite the fire that still burned in the young tom’s eyes and followed after Shadowfrost. “Besides, he’s not so cruel as he acts.”  
Ashfall wasn’t so sure on that one. Ever since he could remember, Shadowfrost had been hostile. In his youth, admittedly, he’d been much cockier. Ever since Springstar became leader, however, he’d just become irritable to almost everyone. Despite all that, he was several moons older than Ashfall and Ashfall could not deny the warrior’s expertise.  
“Come on,” Ashfall gently nudged Cinderpaw along and followed the other two out into the forest. All four plunged into the cool river that surrounded their camp and paddled along as confidently as if they were walking on water before scrabbling up on the far shore. The water droplets easily fell from Shadowfrost and Copperblaze’s pelts as they dashed off into the forest. Much to Ashfall’s displeasure, his and Cinderpaw’s fur were not so finely adapted for the water and they had to take a moment to shake themselves free of what water they could before hurrying on to catch up with the others.  
“Can we go practice hunting? Or fighting?” Cinderpaw requested perkily, all thoughts of Shadowfrost instantly gone as his tail curled and he skipped along beside Ashfall. The large warrior couldn’t help, but notice just how far the apprentice had to crane his head to look up into his eyes and purred in amusement before he could help himself.  
“Focus on the task at hand,” Ashfall advised, trying not to let his amusement show too much. “If you’re busy thinking about hunting or fighting, you won’t notice the scents of the forest.”  
Cinderpaw screwed up his face in a frown and bounded ahead defiantly. “I’m perfectly aware of what’s going on around me!” He declared. The young tom then turned and scrambled up a nearby hill and opened his mouth slightly to taste the gently blowing breeze. “There’s no sign of intruding cats here… just the scent of…” he narrowed his eyes and took a moment to deeply breathe in. “Squirrel?”  
“Close,” Copperblaze purred encouragingly. He and Shadowfrost had stopped just ahead to let the other two catch up. Though the tom sounded pleased, Ashfall couldn’t help, but let out a sigh.  
“That’s mouse, Cinderpaw. We’ve been over this for two moons now. How can you not tell them apart?” Ashfall rumbled in exasperation.  
Cinderpaw pinned his ears, but nodded in determination. Only his eyes betrayed his grief at the rebuke. “Squirrel,” he repeated in a growl, blue eyes glistening despite everything. “I won’t forget! A good warrior never forgets a scent. I just need a bit more practice!”  
“Obviously,” Ashfall rumbled and nudged past the apprentice. “You missed a scent.”  
Cinderpaw’s eyes went wide as he dashed down the hill ahead. “No, I haven’t! You’re tricking me! It’s squirrel and Riverclan. It smells like a Riverclan warrior came by here recently… probably Hawkshade out hunting…”  
“Probably?” Shadowfrost almost hissed, blue eyes flashing fiercely. “You still don’t know the scents of your own clan, Kittypet?”  
“Shadowfrost, please,” Copperblaze insisted with a glance in the tom’s direction as he padded over to Cinderpaw. “He’s trying his best. It’s hard for a cat to adjust after being so used to his two-“ Copperblaze paused as he met Cinderpaw’s eyes which blazed with barely contained fury. “You’re alright, Son…” he promised, gently pressing his nose to Cinderpaw’s brown forehead before pulling away. “The scent you are missing is fox… and fresh too. We ought to be careful.”  
There was a pause as Cinderpaw’s hackles rose and he sniffed the air. The fire left his eyes as he obviously recognized the scent. He slumped his shoulders and fell into step beside Ashfall. “I missed that one…” he sighed, taking one, last, long whiff of the scent before nodding and picking up his old pace. “I won’t forget it, I promise!” He insisted earnestly to Ashfall, eyes wide with fear. “I’ll become a warrior! I’ll make you proud…” he glanced to Shadowfrost then, lips drawing back in a snarl as his overgrown ears flattened against his narrow skull. “No matter what some cats might think!” Cinderpaw spat haughtily before wheeling around and bounding up the next hill.  
Ashfall rolled his eyes and followed more slowly, wishing there was a way to trade apprentices. His ears pricked as he heard Copperblaze chuckling and slowed to match the red warrior’s pace. “He has fire, you have to admit,” Copperblaze smiled, golden eyes bright and joyful.  
“But he has no discipline, he’s too impulsive, and he has no natural talent…” Ashfall grumbled, ears flattening against his fluffy head. _And that’s not even half the list of problems he has._ “What was Springstar thinking, giving him to me?” he whispered, yellow eyes flickering back to Cinderpaw as his tail disappeared behind a tree he was meticulously examining. Shadowfrost remained close by, growling something to the apprentice, but Cinderpaw seemed to be ignoring him.  
“It wasn’t a punishment or mockery, if that’s what you think,” Copperblaze coaxed, leaning to press his glistening pelt against Ashfall’s.  
“But she must have thought-“  
“She thought nothing of the sort,” Copperblaze spat, interrupting Ashfall’s argument, but something in the senior warrior’s gaze assured him that Copperblaze did, indeed, understand Ashfall’s worries. “You were given an apprentice because Springstar believed you ready, and what a compliment! We all knew a little kittypet, half-dead in our territory wouldn’t make an easy apprentice, but he showed a willingness to learn… and Springstar believed you could harness that.”  
Ashfall sighed and rolled his eyes. “And, of course, you’re an expert on the inner thoughts our leader has regarding every decision?”  
Copperblaze snorted at that. “Please. Dovetail had to tell me all this. I wish I could say I knew my daughter that well, but no one’s quite as observant as your dear mother…” he chuckled and shook his head. “I swear I fell for her because she was the only cat who could say what was going on in my head before I could even think it!”  
“That doesn’t even make sense,” Ashfall purred, slowly feeling his worries melt away beside the warmth of his father.  
“You know Dovetail… so you know it’s true…” Copperblaze chuckled. “And, if Springstar got the slightest inkling of her mother’s intelligence, you can know she made a wise choice. You’ll make Cinderpaw into a great warrior yet-“  
“But you and Shadowfrost would make much better-“  
“Every cat has their own role in teaching the next generation, Ashfall,” Copperblaze promised gently. “Have you already forgotten what Springstar said to you when she made you Cinderpaw’s mentor? ‘Pass on your courage and your good heart’.” The old tom stopped in the middle of a grassy clearing and turned to Ashfall, gently headbutting his chest. “Even if you try to hide just how big it is, sometimes…” he purred twisting about and quickly bounding off. “I know the son I raised and any apprentice would be proud to have you as a mentor!” He called as his tail vanished into the bushes.  
Ashfall took a moment, smiling to himself and swishing his tail across the fallen leaves. He took a deep breath, contemplating Copperblaze’s words… Cinderpaw could make a good warrior. Afterall, Copperblaze had been his own mentor… surely, Ashfall could pass on all the wisdom hidden behind those smiling eyes?  
There was a crack like the sound of a twig. Ashfall stiffened, ears swiveling about for the origin of the noise. Around him was the usual call of birds above and the gentle rustle of the leaves blowing in the wind, but softly… under it all, was the sound of rustling. He sniffed the air. Whatever it was, it was downwind and he couldn’t catch a scent. The rustling grew louder, louder, until it was distinctly the sound of something running. Ashfall’s chest tightened as his first thought was Storm, but then he saw a flash slip through the bushes.  
“Fox!” Ashfall yowled and dashed after Copperblaze. The scent of fox finally struck him like a wall. There was a screech up ahead.  
Ashfall burst through the bushes just as the fox fell upon Cinderpaw who’d wandered out of the way to sniff at a bush. The apprentice yowled and quickly rolled away, dashing to the side just in time to avoid snapping jaws, every thin fur on his back standing on end.  
Shadowfrost fell upon the fox first. He screeched fiercely as he jumped between the fox and Ashfall’s tiny apprentice, slashing at the fox’s snapping muzzle and glistening white teeth with frantic swipes. The fox bellowed and lunged, crashing into Shadowfrost with jaws agape and ready to snap his neck. It would have been over in an instant, but Copperblaze rushed in and snatched the fox by the ear with a single bound, tilting its head awkwardly so its fangs snapped into the dirt beside Shadowfrost’s leg.  
Finally seeing his opening, Ashfall dashed in to help and leaped to land squarely on the fox’s red back as it attempted to wrench Copperblaze from its ear with vicious swipes of its paws. It cried out and reared onto its back legs as it felt Ashfall’s claws sink deep into the thick fur. Ashfall desperately held on and dug his fangs into the back of the fox’s neck to keep himself steady. He noticed too late that the fox was tipping, tipping, tipping back until the heavy beast crashed on top of him, knocking the wind from his lungs.  
There was a screech as Ashfall laid there stunned. The fox bounced to its paws and reeled on him while he tried to rise, but suddenly there was a fearsome yowl and a small, cream cat latched onto the fox’s face. Cinderpaw’s teeth latched onto the leathery nose while his forelegs clawed at the beast’s eyes and his hindlegs frantically scrambled at the white fluff about the fox’s neck.  
The creature cried out and bounced about, bucking and kicking, tail swishing about madly. Copperblaze and Shadowfrost both danced aside to avoid the scurrying paws, but Cinderpaw held onto that fox’s muzzle like his life depended on it. Repeatedly, the fox tossed its head up into the air and snapped. Ashfall felt his stomach twist up as Cinderpaw’s grip seemed to be loosening while he remained, dangling barely a hair length from the white, snapping jaws.  
Ashfall dashed forward to try to save his apprentice before it was all over as the fox tossed his head up again and Cinderpaw came loose, hanging helplessly in the air a moment, paws flailing in an attempt to avoid the snapping jaws, but then there was a flash of orange. Copperblaze had quickly bounded up and over a rock, using it for leverage to launch himself into the air. He crashed into the falling apprentice, knocking both of them away from the fox’s snapping jaws.  
Almost simultaneously, Ashfall and Shadowfrost crashed into the fox. Shadowfrost went for the forelegs and clamped down on one while Ashfall aimed for the precious, vulnerable neck. The fox squealed in fright, blood welling from its muzzle and half-closed eyes. It kicked and struck at the gathered cats before turning and dashing off into the forest, howling the whole way.  
Shadowfrost dashed after the thing, snapping at its heels to ensure it didn’t come back while Ashfall turned to Cinderpaw in an almost blind panic. “Is he alright?” He demanded.  
Copperblaze gently nudged Cinderpaw who was still lying in the dirt, fur tinged red from blood. Ashfall felt his heart stop until Cinderpaw raised his head and offered a bright smile, eyes glistening, muzzle brimming with fresh fox blood. “Did you see me? Did you see me!?” He piped up, hopping to his paws, his tail curled happily. “I took on that fox and I saved you and-“  
Ashfall bounded forward and nuzzled into the apprentice’s fur, silencing his questions. Slowly, Cinderpaw began purring and rubbed his cheek against Ashfall’s neck with a careful craning of his head.  
“I’m glad you’re alright…” Ashfall sighed, glancing about the clearing in time to see Copperblaze’s proud gaze… shortly followed by the faintest glimpse of surprise in Shadowfrost’s good eye before he averted his gaze to sniff about the clearing.  
“I told you… I’ll make you proud someday!” Cinderpaw purred before quickly pulling away from Ashfall with wide, joyful eyes. “Now come on! We’re almost to the end of the border! Then we can go practice hunting! I know the elders need more freshkill!” He added and dashed off eagerly.  
“Cinderpaw, there could still be a fox-“ Ashfall began, but heaved a sigh as his apprentice was already gone from sight. He glanced to Copperblaze who simply chuckled. He didn’t have to say a thing, but Ashfall could just see the smug ‘I told you so’ written in every movement of the old tom.


	4. The Halfbreed

Despite all the chaos, Shadowclan seemed to be recovering nicely. Many of the cats moved about camp as if walking on thorns, but some sort of quiet had been restored. And now, as the sun filtered through the trees, barely managing to break through the thick forest canopy and cast light upon the clan, cats were beginning to mingle. If one closed their eyes, they could almost fool themselves into thinking that nothing had changed.  
And then Blackstar would look around him and everything would come back into perspective. Here he was, sitting on the clan rock Shadowclan often used for clan meetings. He didn’t belong here. It hurt to even pretend such things. In front of him stretched the deep hollow that Shadowclan had made their home for countless moons and yet Blackstar felt like an outsider. The muddy ground, hard-pressed and dry from the recent drought had been walked upon by so many great leaders throughout history and yet here Blackstar was, a practical nobody playing at king.  
The large, white tom took a deep breath and shut his eyes once more, trying to remember Birchstar in his prime. The leader had always been kind and compassionate, especially during the discussions that followed the revelation of Thistlestar’s treachery. Blackstar froze as he felt the cold, thorns of dread rake across his heart at that name and he jumped off the flat rock to get some water from the nearby stream. It had always proved to be the one place Blackstar could always go to sit in peace.  
He’d been leader of Shadowclan for only a few days and yet it felt like an eternity. As deputy, he’d had responsibilities, sure, but he always had Birchstar’s steady gaze to calm his nerves - his questions could be answered, his doubts smoothed over. So many nights he’d spent in his leader’s den, seeking wisdom for all manner of things since before he was even named a warrior.  
But now…?  
He was all alone. The clan welcomed him warmly and Riverwind, his deputy, assured him vehemently that all the clan trusted him to be the leader they needed despite Blackstar’s past mistakes, but still the tom could not even accept the role for himself.  
The medicine cat, Smallfoot, was the only exception. Ever since Blackstar had returned from the Moonstone, Smallfoot’s reaction to him had… changed... Blackstar found nothing quite so fearsome as having to sit before the old tom. They said the eyes of a medicine cat could see through every lie and scheme a cat could hatch and Blackstar knew Smallfoot saw through everything.  
Blackstar paused, ears pricked as a bird called above him and took off into the sky.  
We need stability in these troubled times. Smallfoot wouldn’t dare stir the waters. What does he even know? Nothing… you’re freaking yourself out over some far-fetched rumors.  
Blackstar laughed to hide his fear from himself, but he knew it was a mere, pathetic gesture. The tom sighed and watched his paws carefully pad along, over twigs, through the green grass, and across sharp stones. Just stay grounded. Here and now is what matters. This is what we understand. A leader must be grounded. He can’t let the world know of his troubles. The clan must look to him for strength, like I did with Birchstar, but… Starclan above, did he even have troubles? Did he worry?  
“What are you doing…?” Blackstar demanded of himself, as he slowly sat down by the stream to stare into its still depths. He was only working himself up, he realized. The fur along his back had slowly raised. The last thing he needed right now was self-induced stress. The clan needed him and, undoubtedly, he’d have some major decisions to make in the days to come. He had to be strong, for his clan.  
The tom peered deep into the water until his eyes could clearly make out his reflection staring back at him. He surely didn’t look frazzled. In fact, he looked imposing, fearsome. Blackstar’s own blue eyes sent a shudder down his spine that he couldn’t help. They only reminded him of things better off buried along with his self-doubt. Instead, he focused on his other features – the things that made him an individual. His white fur and black ears made him an oddity, not only among the clan, but among his own siblings. “Look how far you’ve come…” Blackstar sighed, feeling the weight of everything he knew pressing heavy on his heart.  
“Blackstar?”  
Blackstar stiffened, willing his hackles to lie flat as he turned to see his deputy: a large, pale tom with a copper muzzle and blue eyes. “Riverwind…”  
Riverwind offered a gentle grin and sat himself down beside Blackstar. His thin fur fluffed out against the slight breeze as the tom took a moment to lap up some water. “The patrols are all organized for the day,” he advised, ears pricked to listen to the sounds of the forest around him. “We’ve caught no further scents of Storm or Mapleclaw in our territory… which is good. Smallfoot believes that Mapleclaw might bring her vendetta back to Riverclan and pass us over entirely.”  
“Starclan help them if she does…” Blackstar murmured, recalling the warrior and apprentice Riverclan had lost when Mapleclaw was banished. “What do you think?”  
Riverwind paused to lap at the water once more. His eyes grew more distant as he lost himself in his own thoughts. “I think that there’s more to this than we currently understand… surely Storm wouldn’t attack the clans after so long without a reason. It’d nearly been nine moons since we saw him last! And Mapleclaw… was that six moons ago?”  
“It feels like yesterday…” Blackstar murmured, shuffling his paws uncomfortably. “But yes… she was banished six moons ago, and killed the Riverclan cats a little over five moons ago, if I recall correctly.”  
Both toms fell quiet. Blackstar returned his gaze to the resting water as the breeze blew a small leaf over its surface. The sun glimmered like tiny flecks of gold across the ripples and the Shadowclan leader couldn’t help, but turn his eyes to the sky, desperately searching for any stars glittering in the blue sky. He saw nothing, but the bright sun above and felt his spirits fall ever further. “Is Starclan judging us…?”  
“For what?” Riverwind laughed as his eyes flickered over Blackstar’s face, searching for a reason for the strange request. His face softened when he noticed the grim expression lying there. “What’s past is past, Blackstar. We all make mistakes. You’ve already faced your punishment. If you need more of an argument than that… I’m afraid you’ll have to ask Smallfoot. He’s been looking at the stars an awful lot lately.”  
“Leopardsong and Mapleclaw. Two banished warriors, Riverwind. That must indicate something! Leopardsong took one of Birchstar’s lives in his own den,” Blackstar persisted, unable to shake the sense of dread rising within him. “Thistlestar, this rogue… Birchstar’s death… there’s too many things stacking up to just be coincidence!”  
Riverwind fell quiet, head tilted to the side as he looked Blackstar up and down quizzically. “You’ve been acting strange lately… Why are you so convinced this is Starclan’s wrath?”  
“I’ve been acting strange because our leader lost three lives to a rogue in our own territory,” Blackstar corrected with a sigh, but Riverwind didn’t look convinced. “Surely that’s a good reason to be suspicious?”  
“Did Starclan tell you something at Highrocks? Were you given a vision? A prophecy? Of what’s to come?” Riverwind requested more earnestly.  
Slowly, Blackstar rose to his paws and shook his head. He took his time to respond, weighing every word with the delicacy of the gentlest medicine cat, bent over a wounded patient. “It’s just bad dreams, Riverwind… and this feeling in my gut. The air’s soured-“ he hesitated. “How’s your apprentice doing?”  
Riverwind was obviously not fooled by the ploy to change topics, but did not object. “Lionpaw’s great!” He purred. “He’s a loud-footed oaf, but I’d be afraid to meet him in a battle! Once we nail the hunting, he’ll make an apprentice any warrior would be proud of.”  
“Glad to hear it,” Blackstar purred. “We can always use more warriors-“  
“About time you take on an apprentice, don’t you think?” Riverwind replied with a gentle nudge. “You haven’t had one since Adderstrike, if I recall.”  
Blackstar laughed. “And we all saw how well that one went.”  
Riverwind shrugged. “He’s a fearsome warrior. You can’t help that he’s more in love with his reflection than clan duties, but he’s not a bad clan cat. Loyal, honest, true. What more can you ask for?”  
“I suppose you’re right,” Blackstar chuckled and smacked Riverwind lightly with his fluffy, black tail. “Anyway… the clan’s probably worrying about where I am,” he yawned and stretched. “I’m going to take Duskcloud hunting with Lynxpaw and I. I could use the exercise.”  
Riverwind nodded. “You’ve had your time for grieving Birchstar. Now’s your time for leading.” His eyes glistened. “I know you’ll do great.”  
Blackstar scoffed and quickly licked his paw a couple times to rub across his ears to hide his embarrassment at the compliment. “Thank you, Riverwind. Keep everyone in line, will you!? We’ll keep an eye out for any intruders while we’re out!” He called and quickly bounded off to collect his sister and her new apprentice.  
However, Blackstar had barely squeezed through the thick thorn bush that served as Shadowclan’s entrance when he heard a frantic yowl that had his fur standing on end. “Blackstar, Viperpaw’s woken up!”  
Blackstar froze and looked about in time to see the medicine cat apprentice, Deerpaw bounding up, her green eyes swimming with an expression somewhere between fear and delight. “Is she speaking!?” Blackstar demanded in disbelief. Viperpaw had been Birchstar’s apprentice and the only cat present when the leader was attacked.  
Deerpaw nodded frantically. “We told her you want to talk to her. She’s able, but she’s weak, so…” the apprentice hesitated and shuffled the dirt about under her paw for a moment as if embarrassed to say anything else. “Don’t push her too hard, okay?” She requested softly.  
“Don’t worry,” the white tom rumbled and nudged past Deerpaw to race off to the medicine cat den where it lay nestled between the clan rock and a smaller, grey rock which leaned up against it.  
Blackstar pushed his way through the narrow crack that was the entrance and felt the ground slope gently downwards into the well-lit clearing of the medicine cat den. Everything was silent within, but was filled with the sweet aroma of mint. Viperpaw had been rested on a thick bed of green moss underneath the lightest part of the den, pressed against a collection of ferns which served as the back wall. Gaps between the branches allowed sunlight to filter through and decorate the ground in a thousand tiny pebbles of sunlight. The calico apprentice laid on her side, conscious and quietly nibbling at a leaf. She was terribly thin and her green eyes remained constantly wide and vigilant, flickering about as she heard Blackstar shuffle the dirt under his paws.  
“How’s her leg?” Blackstar meowed softly to the black and white tom who laid in the corner near Viperpaw. He rose to his paws awkwardly, gingerly holding up one, shriveled paw as his eyes leveled with Blackstar’s - pure hatred glistening within those golden depths. Blackstar felt a chill run down his spine and his hackles rose instinctively.  
“The most dangerous time is over,” the old tom meowed, quickly averting his gaze and turning it upon Viperpaw who tried at a smile, but it was weak, betrayed by her wide, unblinking eyes.  
“But her leg…?” Blackstar reiterated, forcing down any frustration and fear he felt in the presence of the wise medicine cat. The glance Smallfoot flashed him indicated the medicine cat did not miss such things.  
“You had some questions to ask her?” Smallfoot meowed more mildly and his gaze softened to the same, neutral expression he showed all cats of the clans that were not expressly his patients.  
Blackstar desperately wanted to pressure the medicine cat one last time for an answer, but figured that response was as much as he would ever get. He hesitated, inching forward and turning to face Viperpaw with a nod. “If she doesn’t mind…”  
The she-cat looked up at him and Blackstar realized in horror that she was shaking like a leaf. “W-w-what do you want to know…?” She murmured, glancing at anything and everything.  
Blackstar sat down instantly and curled his black tail about his paws. It was his turn to feel uncomfortable as he’d never been the best at gentleness and here he was… the she-cat was probably scared half to death. His blue eyes roamed over the scars along her sides, barely healed, and her terribly broken leg that bent the opposite way from how it should have. Viperpaw instantly became aware of his gaze and shifted deeper into the moss as if desperately trying to vanish within its soft depths.  
“Viperpaw,” Smallfoot began in a gentle tone, his voice almost a purr as he inched forward to gently lick the top of her head. “Blacktail is leader now!” He insisted. “Pretty incredible, isn’t it? If a warrior can overcome… such odds…” the medicine cat shot Blackstar a glance and again, the icy claws gripped at Blackstar’s heart, but he forced them down along with all the thoughts that came with them.  
“I suppose I should call you Blackstar, then…?” Viperpaw requested softly, raising her eyes to meet his for just a second before she looked away and pawed at the moss. “Congratulations… Birchstar… I’m sure he’s glad the clan is in your paws.”  
He might be the only one. Blackstar shuddered, wishing the tom was with him now. He would have known what to do. “Can you tell me what you remember… about that night…?” He requested gently, inching forward just a mouse-length and hunching his shoulders to try to hide his massive size from the frightened apprentice.  
Immediately, those green eyes went wide and glazed as if Viperpaw was reliving the experience at that very moment. She tensed, claws digging into the moss as she spoke softly. “He was showing me how to hunt. Birds… blackbirds… owls helped… he said… but they’re dangerous and…” she drifted off and watched her paws again, teeth suddenly bared in frustration.  
“They came out of nowhere-“ her voice broke, keeping her from carrying on as she desperately tried to find the words to speak. Her eyes went ever wider as her chest rose and fell at an increasing rate.  
“That’s enough!” Smallfoot jumped up to help calm the apprentice, but she shook her head, expression hard and determined despite the growing fear within her.  
“Who came?” Blackstar coaxed as gently as he could, but he was nearly falling over himself in his attempts to lean forward and listen.  
“Storm.” Blackstar felt like the name itself could summon thunder from the skies, so powerful did it hang in the air. “And the she-cat… from Riverclan… the e-exile…”  
“Mapleclaw,” Blackstar coaxed, inching forward further. “Why did they attack? Why now? Were they working together?”  
“Blackta-star,” Smallfoot hissed and gently shoved the white tom with his shoulder before sitting down and returning his gaze to Viperpaw. “Go on, Child.”  
Viperpaw looked between them, but Blackstar could tell it was no longer them that she was seeing, but a small, tawny she-cat with blazing green eyes and a large, grey tom with eyes like algae at the depths of a pond. She tensed and frantically closed her eyes, words coming out ever faster.  
“Storm spoke. The she-cat… Mapleclaw… she stayed back. She didn’t do anything. Birchstar demanded to know why they were in his territory as Storm drew closer. He seemed so calm. It was only them.  
“‘I’ve come to pass on a message.’ Storm insisted, drawing ever closer, his jaws slightly parted in a grin. He looked happy. I couldn’t understand why he was happy. He barely glanced at me. He was fixated on Birchstar…  
“Birchstar asked him what the message was and Storm… he said something… I can’t remember exactly, but he said they were ‘declaring war on the clans’. All the clans… Birchstar wanted to know why and Storm… he got so mad. He started shouting. He unsheathed his claws.  
“‘All the things you’ve done. The clans will pay. For every hardship, every stillborn kit, every dead queen. Every abandoned stray.’ H-he went on. But he said he wanted to tell us… that it wasn’t right not to… ‘There is no honor in a war that a cat doesn’t know is happening’.  
“‘Is that it?’ Birchstar asked and…”  
Viperpaw fell quiet abruptly, a shudder running along the length of her body. She took a moment to collect herself before she raised her eyes and locked them with Blackstar. He felt so uncomfortable he almost backed up as she continued.  
“Storm looked me right in the eye, then. ‘I only need one messenger.’ He insisted. H-he then turned back to Birchstar and said that he was going to kill him ‘for what you’ve done to me.’ Birchstar was confused and tried to talk to him… ask what he meant, but Storm just lunged and attacked… he was so fast and strong that he stole one of Birchstar’s lives b-before he could even retaliate. A-a-a-and-“  
Viperpaw sniffled, near hysterics, but determined to finish her tale.  
“While Birchstar was down, Storm took his claws and dug them along Birchstar’s stomach. H-he cut him to pieces while Birchstar was dead! I tried to stop him, but Storm saw my charge. He grabbed me by the scruff… he was so strong. I tried to fight, get free, but he brought me over to a tree and he just… threw me against it… again and again until my leg… I cried out and tried to fight… give him time… b-b-b-but Birchstar. He began to stir, but h-he twitched. He was still bleeding. He was still dying. He just… kept… dying… until he… just… stopped.  
“‘Now you’ll know what it’s like to sit helplessly and watch…’ Storm hissed once I was too weak to move. He dropped me in the dirt and left. I heard him argue with Mapleclaw, but I didn’t hear what he said… h-he…” Viperpaw broke off, breaking into painful fits of sobbing as she buried her face beneath her white paws and shoved her nose deep into the moss.  
Deerpaw and Smallfoot swooped upon her in a second, offering herbs and comfort. They licked the she-cat’s fur flat and murmured encouraging words as Blackstar sat in the clearing, eyes wide, all too vividly imaging the tale the apprentice spun. Surely, she must have exaggerated some things, right? Storm killed Birchstar multiple times… and surely, surely, two cats wouldn’t declare war on an entire clan?  
“I believe you’ve done enough harm for one day, Blackstar,” Smallfoot rumbled from beside Viperpaw. He cast Blackstar a scalding glance before turning his attention to his patient without another word.  
Slowly, Blackstar rose on unsteady paws and left the den as if in a haze. Back in the bright sun, he turned his gaze to the sky and inhaled the scents of the world about him.  
“Riverwind!” He yowled and his deputy appeared almost instantaneously.  
“How is Viperpaw?” the tom meowed, not caring to conceal his worry.  
Blackstar shook his head. “Physically… she’ll make a recovery… I hope, but mentally…” Riverwind tilted his head, but now wasn’t the time for explanations. “I’ll explain everything later, but right now we need to get the word out. I want you and one of your fastest cats to go out and send a message.”  
“To whom…?”  
“All the clans,” Blackstar hissed as he looked about at his clan. “Tell them that Storm and Mapleclaw are working together. And tell them that they’ve declared war on all the clans.”  
“Surely not all?” Riverwind objected, his own eyes widening.  
“If Viperpaw is to believed,” Blackstar sighed. “Start with Thunderclan and Riverclan, then Windclan. I don’t doubt that Storm might head for Riverclan sooner rather than later, considering Mapleclaw’s history with them.”  
Riverwind nodded. “I’ll take Adderstrike with-“ he paused, considering the tom’s temperament and frowning. “I’ll take Dusckloud with me. What are we to do if they don’t let us speak to the leader? Or don’t believe us?”  
Blackstar shrugged, turning away from his deputy with a swish of his tail. “Then it becomes their problem. Our priority is protecting our clan. If they won’t choose to do the same, then they may choose their own fate for their clan.”  
“Yessir,” Riverwind nodded. “We’ll leave promptly!” He called and was gone in a flash of cream-colored fur.  
Blackstar sighed with relief and turned his gaze once more to the sky. Why was this happening? And so suddenly? What was Starclan thinking? Do you even care? The tom stiffened as dark memories came flooding back. In the back of his mind, all he could hear were Smallfoot’s words to him on the day he was named an apprentice. He bared his fangs and cast his eyes to his black feet.  
One day you will lead, but you will never be leader. And the land on which you tread will turn as black as your paws.  
Had Starclan cursed the clan because of him?


	5. The Strays

**Summary for the Chapter:**

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Sun was already filtering through the entrance to the apprentice’s den when Stonepaw began to stir. He yawned widely and opened an eye to see the skinny brown legs of Cinderpaw standing before him. “What do you want…?” Stonepaw mumbled groggily, fighting to get his head on straight. He’d been so close to catching that mouse in his dream… his mouth watered at the very thought of sinking his fangs into the soft, warm flesh.  
“It’s about time you woke up!” Cinderpaw meowed earnestly, eyes alight as he gently nudged Stonepaw with his muzzle. “Come on! Come on! Get up! I have a story for both of you!”  
Beside Stonepaw, the fluffy, red shape of Dawnpaw stirred and she turned her head to watch Cinderpaw, her eyes narrowed with fury. “How about you get your kittypet stench and get lost!?” She spat fiercely and rose to her paws to lick her chest flat. “I’m sick of your stench in this den!”  
Cinderpaw’s ears flattened and a hiss escaped his mouth as his hackles rose, but his fur was so short it did very little to make him appear bigger. “Take that back!” He spat.  
A smile curled across Dawnpaw’s lips as she eyed Cinderpaw almost playfully. “What? Don’t like being called what you are, Kittypet?” She purred.   
Stonepaw quickly shoved Dawnpaw with his shoulder and cast Cinderpaw an apologetic glance. “You should know better than to listen to what she says-“  
The damage, however, was already done. Cinderpaw’s eyes narrowed to mere slits of blue and he lunged, crashing into Dawnpaw with a frenzy of yowls and slashing paws. “I took on a fox! Your fluffy ass is hardly a challenge!” Cinderpaw yowled, clamping down on Dawnpaw’s ear before she quickly flopped on her side and kicked Cinderpaw’s legs out from under him. In an instant, she was on top of the former kittypet, jaws poised at his throat as if to make a killing blow before she sharply nipped his shoulder and caused him to yelp.  
“You’re twice my age and still can’t beat me in a fight!” Dawnpaw boasted, pressing a paw down on Cinderpaw’s side and using her superior weight to keep him pinned despite the tom’s best, flailing attempts.  
“I’ll show you! Just wait!” Cinderpaw cried out. Stonepaw hesitated a moment, torn between defending the poor tom’s honor and getting on Dawnpaw’s bad side… the latter of which was something no one wanted. He finally tensed to help Cinderpaw when another head poked in through the den entrance.  
“Dawnpaw!” The newcomer spat, her narrow face twisted into a deep, scolding frown as her green eyes blazed. “Get off of Cinderpaw at once! How often must I remind you that you are not to harass him? It’s not his fault he came to us so late!”  
“Sorry, Willowfur…” Dawnpaw murmured meekly and stepped off Cinderpaw who proceeded to hiss and spit in frustration before bounding out of the den with an aggressive flick of his long tail. The moment he left, the playful light returned to Dawnpaw’s eyes and she offered a wide, fanged grin. “Can we practice fighting today? With Stonepaw and Springstar!?”  
Willowfur’s eyes softened at that as she looked between Stonepaw and her apprentice. “I don’t know about that, Love. The clan should always have the leader or deputy present…”  
“We’d be close!” Stonepaw squeaked, finding Dawnpaw’s energy absolutely contagious. “Please, please, please!? Copperblaze is basically deputy! He can handle the camp!”  
The deputy purred in amusement and shook her head at the two apprentices. “Very well… I suppose the training grounds aren’t too far off, but you all must behave yourselves. Alright? Don’t forget about Storm and Mapleclaw. They could still be out there, so we must be careful.”  
“Promise!” Dawnpaw and Stonepaw affirmed in unison.  
Willowfur rolled her eyes and turned about. “Meet me at the camp entrance in a couple minutes. I need to talk with Springstar.”  
A squeal escaped Dawnpaw once more as she tore out of the den the moment that Willowfur left them. “Yes! We get to practice together!” She gleamed and turned about very suddenly to tackle an unsuspecting Stonepaw.  
Stonepaw yelped and flopped over with a laugh, kicking at the large she-cat’s stomach, but Dawnpaw was almost impossible to throw off when she had a cat pinned. Honestly, Cinderpaw shouldn’t take his defeat to the young prodigy too seriously. Stonepaw had been trying to beat Dawnpaw in fights since they were both kits.  
“What? Can’t get up?” Dawnpaw chuckled and flopped on top of Stonepaw, nearly crushing him with her great, fluffy weight. If he didn’t die from her size, he certainly would suffer under the thick blanket of fur.   
“Gitoffmeh,” Stonepaw grumbled through a mouthful of fluff. He squirmed feebly. “Dawnpaw!”  
She finally rolled off just as Stonepaw’s breaths were coming more frantically. The smile never left her smug face as her green eyes glistened with a maniacal joy. “It won’t be long before I’m made a warrior, I think! I can beat any cat in this clan!”  
A snort was heard from close by and both apprentices whirled around to see the dark shape of Shadowfrost hunched over a mouse which he delicately picked at with his fangs while one paw held the freshkill to the ground. He turned his golden eyes upon them, right eye normal, left eye horribly cut and sightless. Stonepaw always wondered if the tom would still look intimidating without the wound. It just seemed to perfectly mesh with his permanent scowl to the point Stonepaw’s hackles stood on end.  
“Think that’s funny!?” Dawnpaw growled, fluffing out her bushy chest and standing as tall, watching the warrior defiantly. “I wouldn’t come out of a fight with scars like that!” She spat.  
Shadowfrost let out a hiss and rose to his paws, stepping towards the apprentices as his claws unsheathed. Each step he took seemed to click against the small pebbles nestled within the soft grass. He lowered his head to level with the two apprentices as he inched ever closer with a sort of dastardly hunger glistening behind his golden eyes. He licked some blood from his jowls and leaned in close as Stonepaw and even Dawnpaw retreated slightly. “I could give you a nasty fighting lesson you’d never forget, Pipsqueak.”  
Stonepaw backed up until he awkwardly flopped back onto his haunches, watching Shadowfrost with wide eyes. Shadowfrost, however, seemed content that his point had been made and shoved past them with one last sharp glance. “Don’t speak of battles you aren’t willing to fight,” he spat and was gone.  
The moment the black tom was out of earshot, Dawnpaw spoke up. “You know, he always has his face twisted up like he’s constipated or something. Maybe he just ate a bad mouse that never came back out.”  
Stonepaw snorted before he could help himself. “I always thought he looked more like a sad dog just fresh from the cutter’s mixed with some rotting fox dung.”  
“Having fun?” Stonepaw stiffened as he heard the voice of his mentor and whirled around to see Springstar and Willowfur walking over side by side.  
“N-no, ma’am!” Dawnpaw piped up in a tremulous voice, unable to meet their leader’s gaze in sudden embarrassment.  
Where Willowfur was thin and lanky, Springstar was full and muscular. Her flowing grey and white pelt rippled with the muscles lying just beneath the surface and her eyes glistened a bright yellow just like her father’s. She would have looked much like her mother too, if not for the white of her pelt that looked as if she’d gone wading into a river of milk. Beside her, Willowfur looked exotic with her thin, long snout and stark black stripes on a wintery white, short pelt of fur.  
“Shadowfrost is a good and loyal warrior, Dawnpaw. You must not judge him too harshly for his temper,” Willowfur advised with a scathing glance in her apprentice’s direction.  
“His temper is his problem. I don’t have to treat him differently for it!” Dawnpaw scoffed and shook her head. “Let’s just get going, can we? I don’t need a lecture.”  
“Mind your attitude-“  
Springstar interrupted Willowfur by brushing her fluffy tail across the deputy’s muzzle. “Choose your battles wisely,” she purred in amusement. “This isn’t one either of us will win!” The leader laughed before turning her attention to Stonepaw and gently nudging him with her muzzle. “Come on, then. Let’s see how much you’ve learned about fighting since we last practiced.”  
“I’ve practiced every day!” Stonepaw insisted as he bounded along after.  
“But he still loses to me,” Dawnpaw scoffed, but Springstar acted as if she didn’t even hear the young she-cat’s words.  
“That’s good,” Springstar purred, eyes shutting with delight as she led them out of the camp and off to the clearing where they always practiced. “You’ve been working with Cinderpaw too, I hope?”  
“I mean… sometimes…” Stonepaw hesitated and glanced to Dawnpaw, not wanting to rat her out, but it was hard to ever be around Cinderpaw when she was present. They always ended up fighting and getting yelled at before any helpful practice could be had.  
Springstar’s eyes clouded with concern, but she offered a nod all the same. “We need to make him feel comfortable in our clan, Stonepaw. This isn’t the life he’s used to, you know.”  
Stonepaw nodded. “I know, but he’s not the first kittypet in this clan, either-“  
“But none so old,” Springstar objected kindly. “Cinderpaw’s missed an entire two moons of training. Despite Ashfall’s best attempts, that’s a large challenge to learn our code, learn our traditions, our ways… how to hunt.”  
“Why’d he stay, anyways?” Stonepaw meowed. He remembered the day Cinderpaw arrived quite vividly, but everything about the tom had been kept secret until it was announced that he would be joining the other apprentices in training.  
“He had no one left.” Springstar’s voice grew sad. “He needed a home.”  
“Can we please get to training?” Dawnpaw meowed as she bounded up to them. Stonepaw hadn’t even noticed their arrival and looked about in slight bewilderment.   
Springstar nodded to the she-cat and swished her tail off towards Willowfur. “Get on, then. Work with your mentor,” she purred gingerly and turned her gentle gaze to Stonepaw. “Now, remind me of some of the best ways to knock a cat off their paws when they’re bigger than you.”  
Stonepaw stiffened and fluffed up in an attempt to look confident. “First, you can use their size to your advantage. Make them run and twist about until they unsteady themselves. Second, you can use momentum to slam into them to help account for your decreased strength and then… you… can…” Stonepaw paused, ears twitching with embarrassment as he desperately tried to remember the last option. Oh no, you dimwit. We just went over this…  
In a sudden flash of motion, Springstar had bounded forward and clipped a paw behind Stonepaw’s back legs and ripped them out from underneath him so that he fell on his face. “Go for the legs,” Springstar purred as Stonepaw spat up a mouthful of sand and bounced to his paws.  
Springstar adeptly bounded back a couple steps and watched her apprentice as Stonepaw sized her up. Go for the left leg. She favors it. Having decided, he rushed forward as if to strike his mentor head on, but darted aside at the last second to snatch Springstar’s left foreleg in his jaws, but she was prepared and leaped up into the air and crashed down on top of him as deftly as if she had spread wings and taken flight.  
“Your gaze betrays your intentions and your approach is too forward. Give me a lot to think about or I’ll be able to consider a thousand different moves you might try,” Springstar hissed close to Stonepaw’s ear and released him.  
Stonepaw’s ear flicked in frustration and he bounced back to his feet and rushed forward without hesitation to snap at Springstar’s tail. She swirled about to keep it out of his reach, back legs dancing back and forth with the motion. Stonepaw suddenly spotted his target and bounced, twisting in the air and planting his hindlegs against Springstar’s haunches and kicked off. The leader stumbled slightly, eyes widening in disbelief as Stonepaw landed on the ground, twisted, and bounced again.  
This time, however, she was prepared and smacked him away with a strong blow. As Stonepaw rolled across the dirt with a frustrated huff, he heard Springstar call out to him in her carefree, singsong voice “don’t give up!”  
Don’t give up. Don’t give up. Stonepaw willed himself to try as he rose onto shaky paws and made another attempt.  
They practiced all the way through the afternoon, the sun slowly making its way across the sky, causing shadows to grow longer and longer until the entire clearing was covered in the leafy darkness. Only then did Springstar stop, panting only slightly and smiling as if they had just been out for a merry jog and not mock dueling for hours on end.  
“That’ll be good for today, Stonepaw. You’re improving!” Springstar purred and bounded forward to press her nose to her exhausted apprentice’s head. “I’m so proud of you!”  
Stonepaw smiled, but couldn’t find the words between frantic gasps as he looked into his leader’s gentle eyes. All he could manage was a weak purr as he nuzzled into the grey fluff of Springstar’s neck.  
“You’ll make a great warrior yet, just you wait…” Springstar purred more softly and licked the top of Stonepaw’s head. “You know, I was far worse than you at this age. I always worried I’d let Copperblaze down…”  
“You!?” Stonepaw insisted in disbelief.  
Springstar purred and nodded. “It’s stressful when your father is such a great warrior, you know. More responsibilities. Less nonsense. So many expectations....” Springstar’s eyes glistened playfully and Stonepaw remembered just how young his mentor was.  
Despite being leader of Riverclan, Springstar was one of the youngest warriors. Copperblaze, Shadowfrost, Ashfall, and even Willowfur had moons or even seasons more experience than their leader and yet Springstar was the one in charge of them all. Stonepaw’s heart swelled with hope that he could someday be just as impressive. Someday, he’d prove himself just as great as the mentor he looked up to.  
The entire clearing quieted at the sound of rustling leaves. Stonepaw pricked his ears and stiffened, worried it would be Storm, but instead he caught the thick scent of Shadowclan. He glanced to Springstar who nodded and rose to her feet, stalking toward the sounds with her ears pinned.   
Were they being invaded?  
Stonepaw tensed, ready for a fight as the sounds grew louder. Beside him, Dawnpaw fluffed up and let out a hiss while Willowfur stalked up to stand beside Springstar. A moment longer and two cats came padding out of the bushes, eyes flickering from side to side with worry. They froze as they noticed the four cats watching them, but they did not snarl or raise their hackles.  
One cat was a tom, with creamy fur that reminded Stonepaw of Cinderpaw, but the tom’s muzzle was a brownish red like some of the earth near the twoleg place. Beside him stood a beautiful she-cat with long, dark grey fur marked with darker stripes. Her eyes glistened a bright golden hue. Her eyes met Stonepaw’s for a moment and he let out a hiss, uncertain why the eyes unnerved him so, but they seemed oddly familiar.  
“Riverwind? Duskcloud? What are you doing in our territory?” Springstar demanded. She kept a sharp tone, but she could never fully hide the gentleness within it. She did not even bare her fangs or raise her hackles, but took a tentative step forward to look them over. “You look exhausted.”  
And they did, Stonepaw realized in horror. Both cats’ flanks rose and fell rapidly and their eyes were wide with exhaustion. They were hardly even fit for a fight and couldn’t be expected to be leading an invasion.  
“Blackstar sent us…” the tom began. Stonepaw assumed he must be Riverwind. “There was an apprentice with Birchstar… she had information,” the tom panted.  
Springstar instantly stiffened and her tail shot up into the air with sudden curiosity. “We’ll get you some food and water and then we will speak,” she insisted almost frantically. She then turned to Stonepaw and Dawnpaw. “Find them some food and return to me with it. We’ll speak here. They need not cross the river into camp while they’re already exhausted.”  
Stonepaw’s heart fell. He wanted to hear what the cats had to say, but Springstar cast him such a sharp glare that he didn’t dare object. “Come on,” he meowed to Dawnpaw and bounded off to camp to collect some prey for their guests.  
“What do you think they want?” Dawnpaw hissed before they were even past the clearing.  
“I don’t know, but it probably has to do with Storm…” Stonepaw sighed. “We haven’t heard anything about him since the Gathering.”  
“Maybe he’s attacked again?” Dawnpaw growled. “Or maybe it’s a scam to hide a Shadowclan attack?”  
Stonepaw’s ear flicked in annoyance at that. “Birchstar died, Dawnpaw. And even if Storm is a ruse… Mapleclaw’s still out there…” he fell quiet, recalling a young, orange tom who smiled easily and wanted nothing more than to be the greatest medicine cat the clans had ever seen. He then recalled a massive, tabby tom who could fight the greatest of foes and yet was still as gentle as a dove. And then a young she-cat kneeling beside the tom’s corpse and crying out, her belly already beginning to swell with the kits that would never know their true father. Beside her stood another tabby, as handsome as his brother, but uncharacteristically quiet as he bowed his head and pressed his muzzle into his brother’s flank. “And she killed Sunpaw… and Owltuft.”  
The name’s brought a note of sobriety to Dawnpaw’s expression and she glanced away. Sunpaw had been the first cat to congratulate them both at their naming ceremony and, though he was the medicine cat apprentice, he’d still come to help them practice stalking and fighting. He’d seen the best in everyone… and he’d been one of Mapleclaw’s favorite cats before the scandal.  
“I wish she was dead,” Dawnpaw murmured softly and turned her gaze away from Stonepaw. “She deserves to suffer for what she did!”  
Stonepaw could only nod as he solemnly trekked off to collect two mice from the freshkill pile, his own stomach rumbling at the scent of warm meat, but they wouldn’t be allowed to eat until they’d gone and hunted for the elders. Though Nettlebush was the only elder the clan currently had, he could eat enough for twelve and would loudly remind the world if they forgot.  
They grabbed the prey and bounded back to find that all the cats had sat down in a circle, talking in hushed voices beside a narrow branch of the river. Willowfur’s hackles stood on end and she seemed completely incredulous. “Impossible! How could they think themselves capable of that!?” She demanded.  
Riverwind shook his head, but fell quiet as Stonepaw and Dawnpaw came trotting back with the freshkill. He offered a purr of gratitude and took one mouse before offering the other one to Duskcloud who merely leveled her harsh gaze on them.   
Stonepaw lingered a moment, hoping they’d continue discussing, but Springstar shot them both a glance and he heaved a defeated sigh. “Come on,” he murmured to Dawnpaw and turned to trudge off with the she-cat at his side.  
“Does Shadowfrost have a sister in Riverclan…?” Stonepaw requested once they’d returned to camp. Both sat down in the clearing, desperately waiting for an opportunity to leave camp with a warrior escort. The she-cat, Duskcloud’s golden eyes still haunted him and he couldn’t shake the eerie feeling of resemblance.  
Dawnpaw frowned and considered this a moment before shaking her head. “I don’t know. I know a lot of cats don’t like him, but I don’t know if that’s why-“  
“Problem?” Both cats jumped as they were surprised by yet another warrior. They spun about to see Copperblaze watching them both with mild amusement.  
Stonepaw hesitated, wondering if the tom would be willing to tell them anything. “We were wondering about Shadowfrost-“  
Copperblaze’s eyes narrowed slightly, but his tone remained gentle as he spoke. “Haven’t you been taught better than to shove your nose into other cats’ business?” He purred and moved over to gently nudge them both. “I believe you all ought to catch something for Nettlebush before he goes crazy. He’s been complaining since sunhigh.”  
“Will you tell us what we want to know if we go hunting with you!?” Dawnpaw offered brightly, her grin twisted deviously.  
Copperblaze looked between them both and heaved a sigh. “If it’ll get you two off his case. But you must promise me that no other cat will hear a word of this, alright? Rumors only grow and we have enough of those floating around as is-“  
“Like how Ashfall isn’t your son, but a kittypet?” Stonepaw piped up.  
“And how Mapleclaw was heavy with kits when Thistlestar banished her from the clan?”  
“Quiet with that nonsense!” Copperblaze spat almost venomously and herded the two apprentices out of the camp with his tail. “And not so loudly! The last thing we need is you spreading rumors to the kits. It divides the clans and breeds distrust. We need the clan to be united right now, not spitting accusations.”  
“Did Cinderpaw become Ashfall’s apprentice because they’re both kittypets?” Dawnpaw requested eagerly.  
Copperblaze rolled his eyes. “Ashfall became Cinderpaw’s apprentice because he is one of the best warriors in this clan and Springstar knew he would be able to train his apprentice well. It was not because he’s a kittypet-“ the tom paused to sniff the air for prey. “And on that note, never underestimate Cinderpaw. You’ve seen what Ashfall’s become. Any cat can be a good warrior if they have the heart for it, whether they’re the runt of a litter,” his tail playfully swished across Stonepaw’s face and caused him to sneeze, “or the rambunctious she-cat who has yet to learn the value of silence,” he purred and cast his gaze to Dawnpaw.  
Dawnpaw’s ears flattened. “I can be quiet!” She declared.  
Copperblaze only looked amused and purred. “Oh really? Then how about you prove it by not talking for the rest of hunting?”   
Dawnpaw opened her mouth to object and just held it open, eyes blazing with fury as every bit of fur on her back stood on end, but she wouldn’t dare be bested in this challenge. Stonepaw purred in amusement.  
“I think that’s the first time she’s been quiet since she’s been born,” Stonepaw laughed and Copperblaze offered a good-natured purr.  
“Find some prey for Nettlebush and I’ll tell you what you want to know,” Copperblaze insisted gently. “But Cinderpaw ought to be there for your questions too. He deserves to know all the clan’s dirty little secrets if he hopes to be part of the clan.”  
“On it!” Both apprentices yowled and were off in a flash to catch prey. Stonepaw noted with amusement that Dawnpaw had already lost her dare.  
By the time they’d caught a suitable amount, the moon was hanging in the sky and the Shadowclan guests had vacated the clearing. Stonepaw and Dawnpaw trudged back on weary paws, only partially cognizant of Nettlebush’s complaints as they dropped his prey before him and went to collect some prey for themselves to eat outside the apprentice’s den as they always did.  
When they arrived, Copperblaze was already sitting there, tearing into a fat fish with Cinderpaw gnawing on the remains of a pigeon beside him. Despite exhaustion, Stonepaw felt a tingling in his feet as he laid down beside Dawnpaw. Everyone huddled up close around Copperblaze who took time to lick his chops and look them all over before finally speaking.  
“So, what do you want to know, little ones? Only a story or two, alright? These old bones don’t have forever to sit and tell stories like some elder,” Copperblaze scoffed and shook his head. Stonepaw laughed heartily, knowing how fervently Springstar always tried to get her father to retire, but the old tom refused to give up the position of warrior no matter how grey his muzzle grew.   
“He’d live and die as a warrior,” Springstar always said. “Never a deputy, or leader, or elder. Just a warrior. Plain and simple until his death.”  
Stonepaw and Dawnpaw glanced to one another, but they were interrupted by a stampede of kits who collided with Stonepaw. The first of which was, of course, Owlkit who beamed up at Stonepaw while his sisters tried to untangle themselves from one another.  
“We wanted to hear the story too!” Owlkit declared confidently. Beside him, Leafkit nodded vigorously while Featherkit only watched her paws and shuffled nervously.   
Just behind them, Dovetail came padding up with a gentle smile stretched across her muzzle. “I really am sorry, Sweetie, but they insisted!” She chuckled and laid down beside her mate, pressing her grey pelt into his orange tabby one and purring softly. “They don’t get to hear many good stories from old Nettlebush.”  
Copperblaze chuckled and licked the top of Dovetail’s head as his eyes scanned over his three children. “That’s quite alright. They’re almost apprentices, I suppose…”  
“You said you’d talk to Springstar about naming us apprentices!” Owlkit declared, face scrunching up in a tiny scowl as his yellow eyes glistened.  
“That I did,” Copperblaze chuckled and gingerly knocked over the confident kit with one paw which just seemed to make him more furious. “It’ll happen soon, I promise all of you, but Springstar has to decide on mentors for you all…” for just a second, grief appeared in the tom’s expression as he turned his gaze to Featherkit who did not look up from her paws. The only indication that she was even listening were her pricked ears.  
She’d always been scared, Stonepaw remembered, though he wasn’t sure why. Sometimes it just seemed that a cat was naturally a coward, but Featherkit was different. Her eyes spoke of unseen tragedies and countless horrors she wouldn’t dare speak aloud. The kit didn’t seem to notice her father’s gaze, however, and just inched over to curl up between her mother’s paws, shaking ever so slightly, but not from the cold. Leafkit joined her sister and gingerly rested a chin on her back, eyes clenching shut as her little sister flinched at the touch.  
“Nevermind that,” Copperblaze rumbled, interrupting Stonepaw’s thoughts. “I promised you all some stories!”  
“Yes!” All in attendance squealed, even Featherkit. Dovetail even offered an encouraging purr as her blue eyes rested on nothing, but Copperblaze as if he was her entire world.  
“What shall I start with?”  
“Mapleclaw and Storm?” Cinderpaw suggested hopefully. “Everyone’s always talking about them, but I feel I missed out on something… Who were they?” Stonepaw opened his mouth to object, but the tom had been quicker… and he supposed he didn’t even know the whole story. He just hoped they’d still have time to ask about Shadowfrost.  
Copperblaze nodded and nestled down slightly before offering a smile. In the dim light, his eyes glowed bright yellow, making his normally gentle and kind voice have a certain, mysterious air as he began.  
“Storm’s a rogue the clans became familiar with when he was very young. There were always reports of a young rogue invading clan territories and stealing. Naturally, the clans would attack and teach him a lesson for this, but he would always return. No matter how hard they struck, no matter how hard they tore at the young tom, we would always find him back at our borders as if he was hungry for punishment.  
“I even drove him out once or twice… he always had a certain, unusual air about him. A defiance that made him stand out from the other rogues that we fought. He’d take his beatings like they were his Starclan-sworn duty to accept and he would exchange each blow with a fierceness rarely seen in one so skinny and young.  
“However, as time went on, he grew bigger and stronger and the nuisance at our borders began to become a serious threat. It started with him terribly wounding a Windclan warrior named Ambereye. After that, more and more clans started to report that this tom wasn’t just a glutton for punishment, but a remarkable fighter, even by our standards. Thunderclan would report him fighting with the swiftness of Windclan, Shadowclan would report him using the water to his advantage like a Riverclan warrior…  
“We finally caught on. The tom had been learning, teaching himself our ways and learning how we fought. Each scar on his grey pelt was more than just a trophy, it was a lesson and he took every lesson very seriously. Things got out of control when he took on one of our patrols… Crowflight, Icestripe (who was Icepaw at the time), and Emberleaf were on the patrol and they all came back, beaten, bruised, and bloody. He’d sent them running, somehow-“  
Copperblaze paused and allowed that to sink in for his listeners. Stonepaw felt his fur stand on end at the thought of any cat being able to fend off an entire clan patrol. Sure, Crowflight and Emberleaf were small, but Icestripe was a big tom, even in his youth who wasn’t to be underestimated.  
“Everything accumulated in Emberleaf’s death. At that moment, we learned that this rogue was to be underestimated no longer. He managed to kill off a cat from each of the other clans and, just as suddenly as he appeared, he vanished. We would smell him on our territory, sure, and he still stole prey as liberally as ever, but he stopped fighting patrols and mostly slipped out of mind until the Gathering two days ago…”  
“Why would he vanish?” Cinderpaw requested, crouched down with eyes wide. Stonepaw was surprised to see no fear in the kittypet’s expression, but only an intense interest and respect.  
Copperblaze shook his head. “We don’t know… there was one time that he came to Shadowclan, asking for a medicine cat, but he was driven out before he could cause damage. Birchstar assumed it was a plot, but that was several moons before Storm vanished… an isolated incident that was never replicated. It’s anyone’s guess why he vanished, but perhaps he was waiting for an opportunity… one such as Mapleclaw.”   
“And what about her?” Owlkit squeaked this time, twice his size with all his fur fluffed out in horror. Beside him, Leafkit had nuzzled close to her sister as Dovetail offered the two of them comforting licks from time to time, a soft purr rumbling in her chest as she wrapped the two of them in her paws and held them close.  
Stonepaw thought he saw a look of rage flash through Copperblaze’s eyes, but his voice remained even, as if these were only stories and not the true, dark past of their own clan.   
“Mapleclaw was a Riverclan warrior… Briartooth’s sister, actually. She was always a little aggressive, I’ll admit, but she was a good warrior. She was true to her clan and true to the code… for the most part…” Copperblaze’s voice grew soft and almost sad as he continued, hanging his head slightly. Dovetail craned her neck to nuzzle him as he continued to speak.   
“Things changed. Her stomach began to swell and her mate, Owltuft was so terribly happy to be a father. He’d always wanted a family more than anything in the world and Mapleclaw meant the world to him, but… there was a scuffle in the forest with a stray. He wound up dead in a complete accident. I’m certain Owltuft hadn’t meant to kill the tom, but Mapleclaw found out and she was furious… enraged… we couldn’t understand why… and then she told us all, spat in Owltuft’s face with each word she spoke.  
“The tom was her mate, she explained. She didn’t love Owltuft and she certainly did not carry his kits. We’d kill the tom she loved… Ajax… was his name. This news, however, was not appreciated by Thistlestar or Owltuft. Both were furious. Owltuft demanded retribution for being lied too, deceived… for having his heart ripped out and stomped on in front of the entire clan and Thistlestar was more than glad to seek retribution for someone who would dare break the warrior code and lay with a stray-“  
Copperblaze broke off, teeth gritted in a partial snarl as his eyes clenched shut as if trying to will away the memories. “I should have talked him out of it…” he murmured suddenly, his voice growing soft and pained.  
Dovetail nuzzled him and licked his cheek. “You know as well as anyone that the whole of Starclan couldn’t have convinced those two to show mercy.”  
“She was pregnant-“ Copperblaze objected, but Dovetail simply shook her head.  
“You did all you could, as did Springstar, but Thistlestar… he saw things how he wanted to see them,” Dovetail coaxed.  
Stonepaw glanced to Dawnpaw who had the same, worried look in her eyes. They both knew that Thistlestar had not been the best leader, but neither of them knew the details of that. It seemed to be something of shame for the clan and no amount of urging ever seemed to convince any cats to tell them. The most they’d ever heard were whispers when they were kits, but Dawnpaw’s mother had ensured they both stayed safely inside the den during that one, fateful night. Maybe tonight would be the night they learned the truth.  
“Go on,” Cinderpaw finally insisted, looking about ready to tear out his own fur in his eagerness to hear what came next, no matter how much it hurt the senior warrior.  
Copperblaze heaved a sigh and nodded, casting one last glance to his family as if for comfort before continuing. “That day Mapleclaw was cast out of the clan. We were not to offer her help or wait for her kits to be born for Thistlestar wanted no ‘half-clan scum tainting the bloodlines’.” He almost snarled. “We hoped that’d be the last we saw of her, but then… one day… she found Owltuft and Sunpaw out on a patrol for herbs…”  
“And she killed them both in cold blood and left their bodies to rot in the forest,” Dawnpaw spat venomously. Stonepaw nodded in agreement, memories of their dead friend lying in the clearing, drenched in blood with wide, frightened eyes banishing any feelings of pity for the traitorous she-cat.  
“Perhaps…” Copperblaze sighed. “But would she have acted so if she was not forced to fend for herself, alone, in the cold of leafbare?”  
“Who cares!” Dawnpaw spat, fluffing up and hopping to her paws. “Dovetail, you spend your time in the nursery with Foxtail! Tell me you don’t feel that pure, unfiltered rage boiling in your belly every time you watch Foxtail curl up alone, and cold, crying herself to sleep and wishing for her kits’ father! Tell me you don’t want to rip out her throat every time you watch Hawkshade stumble out of the warrior’s den in the middle of the night to sit where he and his brother always did by the creek, watching the water’s surface and imagining playing there with his brother when they were kits! Tell me that she deserves pity!”  
Stonepaw watched the ground, feeling his heart fall at the thought of all those left to suffer from those two deaths. Their medicine cat, Nightsky, had been distant for moons… even now he hardly seemed the same and looked upon the thought of having another apprentice as some sort of betrayal to Sunpaw’s good name. “Thistlestar was right…” he agreed softly.  
It was Copperblaze’s turn to bristle at those words and rise to his full height, looking down upon the apprentices with rage-filled eyes. “Never, ever claim that that monster was right!” He spat. “If we’d listened to that monster, Ashfall would have never come to the clan. He would have starved in the forest, alone, beside the corpses of his parents! Do you know how hard I had to fight that scoundrel to keep my son? Do you know how often I had to stand up and argue against him when he insisted Ashfall could never be a warrior, an apprentice, and even refused to offer him a clan name until I gave Ashfall one myself!? Thistlestar was a scourge upon the reputation of our great clan and we cannot ever risk stooping so low again!”  
Stonepaw huddled back against Dawnpaw, eyes wide. His fear obviously disarmed Copperblaze who instantly grew softer and allowed his hackles to fall.  
“I’m sorry…” he sighed and glanced away from the apprentices in shame. “I believe that’s more than enough story time for one night,” he purred. “You’ve gotten me all worked up over old wounds that just refuse to heal.”  
“One last thing,” Cinderpaw spoke up meekly, sounding almost embarrassed as he watched the ground.  
Copperblaze paused and looked to the apprentice with an encouraging nod. “If Owltuft was so in love with Mapleclaw, why does Foxtail carry his kits?” Cinderpaw requested suspiciously.  
“Perhaps he was so desperate to find a family wherever he could… grief shows itself in many mysterious ways, Cinderpaw,” Copperblaze explained softly. “But don’t mention it, alright? Owltuft was all Foxtail needed in life and she’s had a hard-enough time getting over his death. We don’t need to question the state of their relationship while we’re at it.”  
“Okay, and one more,” Cinderpaw piped up more loudly as the old tom turned to retire to the warrior’s den. “So Ashfall really is a kittypet? Just like me? But the clan accepted him?” He requested urgently.  
Copperblaze purred at that and turned to glance at Cinderpaw with a kindly smile. “If you ask me, kittypets always make the best warriors,” he declared before taking his leave without another word.  
Quickly and expertly, Dovetail corralled her litter and nudged them off to the nursery with a paw. “Come on now, Darlings. Off to bed for all of you,” she coaxed gently. “And, if you have nightmares, remember that you’re the ones who asked to listen to your father’s stories.”  
“I won’t have nightmares! Warriors are brave and afraid of nothing!” Owlkit declared.  
“I’ll dream about our naming ceremony!” Leafkit declared. “We’re going to be apprentices! Won’t it be great, Featherkit!?” The she-kit nudged her sister, but Featherkit only offered a slight nod as they bounded off to the thick knot of bushes and branches that made up the nursery entrance.  
“We ought to get some sleep as well,” Dawnpaw yawned. “I’m exhausted! I can barely even feel my paws!” She purred and sauntered off into their den with one last, dramatic twitch of her tail.  
Stonepaw purred in amusement and turned his attention to Cinderpaw who seemed lost in his thoughts. The tom raised his blue eyes to meet Stonepaw’s. “Do warriors really not have nightmares…?” He requested softly. Stonepaw paused, recalling all the times he’d been awoken in the night by Cinderpaw’s frantic meowing and kicking while he slept.  
He offered a bright smile and pressed his nose to Cinderpaw’s forehead, purring confidently. “If that’s so, no one could be a warrior,” Stonepaw promised the older tom before turning to follow Dawnpaw into their nice, warm den. It was only once he’d snuggled deep into the comfort of his mossy nest that he remembered they’d forgotten to ask about Shadowfrost’s mysterious past.


	6. The Kittypet

As a new morning dawned, Ashfall was greeted by fresh dew decorating the Riverclan camp, causing everything to shimmer like captured starlight. The river was gurgling peacefully, fish occasionally breaching the surface with a nervous splash, and the sky was rich with the sound of morning birds, greeting the day with their joyous song.  
“Ashfall, so glad to see you up!” A voice called from across the clearing. Ashfall turned to see Willowfur sitting beside the ancient willow that rose high over their camp and marked the leader’s den. The deputy looked pleased, if a little ruffled, to see Ashfall walking about and curled her tail about her paws.  
“Is… something the matter…?” Ashfall hesitated, one paw still raised as he had planned to head to the apprentice’s den and collect Cinderpaw from some early morning bird hunting.  
Willowfur shifted her white paws and watched them for a moment as if embarrassed. “You could say that…” she rumbled and rose to her paws. “I was about to wake you, but since you’re already up…” She flicked her tail for Ashfall to follow and slipped noiselessly between the roots of the willow into Springstar’s den.  
Something felt terribly wrong about all of this. Ashfall looked about the camp and sniffed the air. The freshest scents he could detect were from all their senior warriors. Maybe it’s Storm? A rival clan…? He pondered this a moment before bounding after his deputy and squeezing his way through the narrow passage.  
Inside, the den was lined with a flooring of soft grass and sand. Sunlight filtered through the branches on one side where feathers and moss had not been interwoven into the mesh of branches. The light shone against the backs of Shadowfrost and Crowflight, two black toms who cast a horribly long shadow across the rest of the den.  
Springstar sat across from them, beside her parents. Copperblaze sat to her left and Dovetail beside him. He offered a friendly smile as Ashfall entered while Dovetail looked more subdued, her face unreadable as her blue eyes never left the grassy surface beneath her paws. To Springstar’s right laid Snowstorm, Springstar’s mate. The white tom laid pressed against her side as his yellow eyes roamed from cat to cat.  
“Willowfur, Ashfall, sit,” Springstar insisted earnestly. “You all will want to hear what Crowflight found on his morning patrol,” the leader meowed. A twitch of her ear betrayed the nervousness her yellow eyes and steady voice would not tell.  
Ashfall slowly sat beside the entrance and turned his attention to the small, black tom with ears that curled backwards at the tips. Despite the situation, he still wore an earnest smile on his muzzle and a playful glimmer still showed in his blue eyes, though it was subdued by his serious tone. “We could smell rogue cats,” he reported in an even tone, eyes flicking from cat to cat as he spoke. “I could not recognize any of the scents, nor could Badgerfoot or Hawkshade. There was more than one cat, we know, and they were deep in our territory, near the old oak. When I followed the scent, it led all the way to the border with Windclan before we abandoned pursuit.”  
“Then shouldn’t it be Windclan’s problem?” Shadowfrost replied in a level tone, but his voice still had a growl in it. By this point, Ashfall was almost convinced it was just a permanent part of the tom’s speech, but the tom’s eyes looked equally fierce now.  
“But they were on our territory. Why?” Copperblaze reminded, face screwed up in thought, brows narrowed into a sort of frown. “It could easily have just been some loners crossing through, I suppose. Windclan does have the twoleg barn beyond their territory.”  
“What purpose would loners have in going from one twolegplace to another?” Dovetail objected. “The logical answer is that this is related to Storm. He said he was declaring war on the clans. That requires an army. Perhaps he has one now-“  
“And perhaps he intends to attack Windclan,” Ashfall bristled at the notion, fangs partially bared. On the one hand, he was relieved such a threat would pass Riverclan by, especially when they were in such desperate need of more cats.  
The den fell quiet as everyone turned to gaze at Springstar who had remained silent, quietly watching every speaker and nodding her head while her eyes betrayed nothing of the inner workings of her mind. “Yesterday, Shadowclan sent us two envoys that reported a message from Storm. He’s declared war against all the clans. No doubt most of you have heard the news already… If this is him…” She fell quiet and promptly shook her head. “Either way… I don’t like it,” she determined slowly, measuring each word as one would measure their leap over a river. “If they intend to attack Windclan, we ought to warn them…”  
“Windclan can handle themselves,” Shadowfrost spat. “If they have any notion of how to run a clan, they’ll have patrols and they’ll detect the scents themselves and react accordingly. We need not risk our own.”  
“He has a point-“ Ashfall began, but Springstar silenced him with a gaze, the blazing yellow of her eyes reminding him so much of Copperblaze that it was remarkable.   
“We will send an envoy to Windclan,” Springstar declared with a sense of finality in her tone. “Storm declared war on the clans, not one or two. Therefore, we will fight this battle like one clan. We help each other in this matter if in nothing else,” she spat with a lashing tail.  
“Others might not share your view,” Dovetail warned mildly. “Perhaps we wish to help the other clans, but, if they do not return the effort, we are making ourselves more vulnerable.”  
Nothing seemed to sway Springstar, however, as she watched Dovetail politely. Instead of agreeing, she rose to her paws and watched her mother with a confident expression. “Then we can discuss that matter at the next gathering. Until then, it’s best we don’t make more enemies than we need to and help wherever we can.”  
All cats bowed their heads in silent agreement with their leader’s decree, though Ashfall thought he heard a slight hiss escape from Shadowfrost. Crowflight quickly nudged the tom and softly murmured something Ashfall couldn’t catch.  
“Who will the envoy be, then?” Copperblaze requested as every cat began to slowly rise, their expressions glum with the information they now held.  
“Snowstorm,” Springstar declared confidently. The whole den quieted and all eyes locked with the leader. Snowstorm had been Springstar’s mate ever since they were named warriors and she rarely let the tom leave her side. Even Snowstorm looked startled as he raised his head and looked to Springstar with wide eyes, but he did not object.  
Dovetail was the only one brave enough to question her daughter’s decision. “Are you quite certain? Crowflight is tired, but Sparrowwing or Amberspeck would do just as well…”  
Springstar shook her head vigorously. “Windclan will understand how genuine I am only if I send a cat they know me to be close to,” she insisted and turned her gaze to Snowstorm. He smiled warmly and licked her cheek.  
“I’ll go,” he agreed with a purr. “It’s for a good cause… and I could use the workout,” Snowstorm shrugged and hopped nimbly to his paws. “I’ll have your message delivered before sundown!”  
Springstar purred at that, her eyes filled with nothing, but adoration for the young tom. “I know you will. In the meantime, I don’t want any apprentices or kits leaving the camp without a warrior escort until we are certain all danger is past!” Ashfall shifted uncomfortably as he noticed Springstar’s words were expressly directed at him. Surely, she wasn’t implying Cinderpaw would disobey orders…? Finally, she turned her gaze away and continued. “Willowfur, keep patrols regular and ensure cats are ready for a fight, should they stumble upon these rogues.”  
“Of course,” Willowfur dipped her head before quickly slipping out of the den to organize the patrols for the day. Crowflight and Dovetail followed her, but Springstar stopped Shadowfrost and Ashfall with a flick of her tail.   
“Hold on, you two!” Springstar called after, freezing Ashfall in his tracks. He hesitated, one paw still extended towards the entrance as he and Shadowfrost exchanged a glance.  
“Yes, Springstar?” Ashfall requested politely and turned to his leader once more.  
Springstar sat down, a hint of fear coming back into her eyes as she looked over them all. Snowstorm pressed closer against her but kept quiet. “I like to hope that we’re correct and Storm’s wrath is passing us over, but I cannot risk a thing. I want you two to go on a patrol with Copperblaze and Hawkshade,” she insisted, flicking her tail in the old tom’s direction as he bowed his head in agreement. “You are undoubtedly our best fighters and I want your patrol to be prepared for the very worst.”  
“And what if they attack the camp?” Shadowfrost objected with a slight growl as his yellow eyes flicked back and forth between Copperblaze and Ashfall as if seeking some agreement.   
“All hunting parties will be suspended until you return. We’ll have the rest of the clan to defend the camp. We’ll be fine,” Springstar assured. “I’m most concerned with you all…” she hesitated and turned her gaze to her paws as she continued. “That goes without saying, then… no apprentices. We can’t risk an inexperienced fighter getting caught up in something way over his head.”  
Ashfall didn’t miss the second hint and offered a nod. “I understand,” he promised. “Though he won’t be happy about it…” the tom hesitated again, considering her words one last time. “Are you certain Hawkshade is ready? I know it’s been moons since his brother’s passing, but he’s never been quite the same since…”  
A hush fell over the den as Springstar averted her gaze and heaved a sigh. “We all have our personal struggles we must face, but he is first and foremost a member of this clan. Though we cannot expect his pain to have passed, we can equally not expect him to abandon his clan to his grief.”  
“He’ll be fine,” Copperblaze promised. “He’s young, but he’s strong and he loves his clan… I’m sure he’ll do whatever he can to ensure Mapleclaw does not harm another cat.”  
“We all will,” Shadowfrost murmured, his expression softening slightly as he watched Copperblaze.  
“Good,” Springstar purred and flicked her tail towards the entrance. “Now get out there. I want our entire territory scoured before midday. I won’t be able to rest easy until I am certain those rogues are not trekking across our territory like they own it,” she spat, the grey hair along her back beginning to stand on end. “In the meantime, Copperblaze…” the she-cat turned to offer her father one, last, affectionate glance. “I’ll find a good mentor for all of your kits. I think I have something in mind for Owlkit and Leafkit… and Dovetail and I were thinking Featherkit might make a wonderful Medicine Cat... I was thinking we could have the naming ceremony when you return?”  
Copperblaze offered his daughter a soft smile and rubbed his cheek against hers as a deep rumble rose in his chest. “I know you’ll make excellent choices… I look forward to seeing yet another litter finally leave the nest.”  
“You’re single-handedly restoring the entire clan,” Springstar laughed at that. “Now get going! I’ll take care of the rest!” She added with a swift lick to her father’s cheek before promptly nudging him away with her muzzle.  
Copperblaze dramatically dropped down and dipped his head in a bow, still purring so loudly it reverberated off the root walls. “As you insist, my leader.” Springstar huffed in exasperation and smacked him with her tail.  
“Get out of here! If I had my way, you’d be the one barking orders and not me!” She hollered after as Copperblaze offered one last, hearty laugh and bounded out of the den. Ashfall offered his sister a smile before following the tom.  
Just outside the den, Shadowfrost was already waiting with a large, tabby tom sitting beside him. “Are we good to leave now…?” the cranky tom droned and rose to his paws without waiting for a response.  
“Hawkshade,” Ashfall offered a polite nod to the tabby tom as he shook his fluffy, dark fur.   
“Will this be dangerous?” Hawkshade requested with a playful glint in his orange eyes. “Personally, I like to think I’m only called upon for the most dire of circumstances…”  
Ashfall rolled his eyes and led the way towards the reed tunnel. “Of course not. Storm’s not foolish enough to be in the territory. We just need to ensure everything’s in order. At most, we’ll run into a fox with a torn nose.”  
“A fox…?” Hawkshade requested curiously as he bounded forward to keep in step with Ashfall, his tail swishing every so often.  
“Ashfall, wait!” The large, grey tom froze as he heard Cinderpaw calling from across the camp. He’d hoped the apprentice would still be asleep, but then again, he realized just how foolish a hope that was.  
Copperblaze and Shadowfrost both turned to Ashfall who sighed heavily and glanced towards the little apprentice as he came bounding up. “I’ll handle this. Meet me on the other side of the river,” he growled and turned on Cinderpaw just as he came skidding to a stop. The rest of the patrol quietly took their leave.  
“Where we going!?” Cinderpaw piped up, blue eyes alight with pure joy. “Is it a super secret warrior mission?”  
The young tom looked so excited that it nearly broke Ashfall’s heart as he carefully weighed his words, unable to hold Cinderpaw’s blue eyes for long. “We’re going on a mission, yes. You’re not. You have to stay behind, Cinderpaw. It’s too dangerous,” Ashfall insisted, trying to sound as apologetic as possible. Cinderpaw’s expression quickly twisted, eyes widened while his jaw clenched as he was trapped somewhere between disbelief and pure rage.   
“I fought off a fox just yesterday! Whatever it is, I can handle it! You never give me a chance to prove myself!” Cinderpaw objected loud enough to turn the heads of a couple warriors who were trickling out of their dens to share tongues. Ashfall’s fur prickled with discomfort at their judgmental gazes.  
“The answer is ‘no’, alright!?” Ashfall snapped, his embarrassment making him frustrated. Unfortunately, his anger only fueled Cinderpaw’s. The cream tom’s hackles began to rise and his next words came with a hiss.  
“Fine! I don’t need you anyways!”  
“Fine!” Ashfall spat back, instantly wishing he could take the impulsive response back. “Just stay here and gloat about fighting your stupid fox, will you!? I’m not risking your safety on this dumb mission. So, sit, stay, and don’t cause more problems than you already do!”   
It was too late now. The words were out, hanging in the air, and no amount of frantic grasping could ever grab them back. Ashfall stared into Cinderpaw’s blue eyes, frightened by the coldness lying within. He wouldn’t see the end of this for a very, very long time. I can’t risk you getting hurt… please, just stay.  
Thankfully, the tom promptly turned on his paws and stalked off, ears pinned against his head. Cinderpaw didn’t even deign to glance at Ashfall again, but simply trekked off back to the apprentice’s den with his head and tail held high as if in silent defiance of his mentor’s words.  
Only once Cinderpaw’s brown tail vanished back between the reeds of the apprentice’s den did Ashfall swing around and dash after the rest of the patrol. A quick splash into the river and Ashfall waded across to join Copperblaze, Shadowfrost, and Hawkshade on the other side.  
“How’d it go…?” Copperblaze requested nervously, eyes scanning every bit of Ashfall’s demeanor.  
Ashfall pinned his ears and growled slightly as he stopped to shake the water from his fur. “He’s staying.”  
There was a pause before Hawkshade mercifully decided to change the subject. “So, what’s the plan?” He requested of Copperblaze, his orange eyes alight with excitement. In fact, the tom’s entire body seemed to vibrate with energy. When was the last time anyone trusted him to be on a patrol…? Ashfall couldn’t help wondering.  
“We’ll start at the border,” Copperblaze meowed. “Follow the Thunderclan border to Fourtrees, then cut through the middle of our territory and then back along the furthest edges and back up to Fourtrees along the Shadowclan border. That should give us a pretty good indication if there’s any fresh scents to be found.”  
Hawkshade nodded and the party fell silent for a moment, but Ashfall could tell the tom was still itching to speak. There was a hunger in his eyes and a way his tail lashed that betrayed what he tried so hard to hide. The patrol moved deeper into the trees in silence until the nervous energy became too much to bear. Finally, he gave in and spoke up again just as they had clambered up a low hill and were making their way to the river which ran along the border with Thunderclan. “Has there be any scent of Mapleclaw? I’m not allowed in on all the senior warrior information, you know…”  
“The only scent we caught was ‘rogue’ as Crowflight described it,” Copperblaze sighed apologetically. “We don’t know if it’s even related to Storm. It could have just been some passing rogues, but we’re checking to ensure the safety of our clan.”  
“I’ll kill her if it is,” Hawkshade hissed. Shadowfrost offered an approving rumble and a nod which was as close to a kind gesture as Ashfall had ever seen from the tom.  
“We’ll shred her for what she’s done,” Shadowfrost promised.  
“If she shows her head again,” Copperblaze leveled, glancing between both toms with a steady gaze. “Don’t be so quick for violence… it often makes things worse.”  
Hawkshade’s ears pinned, but he refused to speak up against the older warrior and simply bowed his head. Shadowfrost, too, stared with mouth partly agape as if the words were just sitting on the tip of his tongue, but Ashfall knew as well as anyone that Copperblaze was the only cat in the four clans that Shadowfrost wouldn’t dare badmouth. The tom always remembered when he owed a cat a favor.  
The patrol moved on, drawing closer to the main body of the river which could already be heard, faintly rolling in the distance. The smell of the water and fish grew stronger and the scent of the trees and grass was rich from the recent rains. Everything smelled pungent and sweet.  
“Hold up,” Ashfall froze as the wind changed slightly and the leaves above their heads rustled more loudly. The rest of the patrol stopped and looked about, mouths agape to suck in the leaffall air.  
“I don’t smell anything…?” Hawkshade hesitated, quieting as Ashfall shook his head.  
“That’s just it,” Ashfall murmured softly, feeling a chill run down his spine which had nothing to do with the gently blowing wind. “I smell no prey… fresh, at least. Everything’s stale. And I hear no birds.” His eyes darted from bush to bush as he desperately searched for some sighting of prey which he could not scent, but the forest felt eerily empty.  
“We didn’t scare them off,” Shadowfrost agreed. The tom had stiffened, tail slightly raised in alarm as he surveyed their surroundings. Ashfall could see the hackles slowly rise on the dark tom’s shoulders as he looked about slowly, the tension rising in his muscles.   
“Something did, though,” Copperblaze growled and sniffed the air again. “Smells like the squirrel that passed by here came from that direction,” he mused, ears swiveling about towards the deepest bit of the woods where the trees grew thicker and the bushes more plentiful.  
“If I was a rogue in clan territory, that’d definitely be where I hid,” Ashfall agreed with a hiss, doing his best to keep his voice quieter now. Each step he took became cautious, calculated. He was never a particularly loud walker, but now every little rustle sounded like thunder in what had become an eerily quiet forest.  
Even Hawkshade kept his mouth shut and lumbered along. Though the tom had never been esteemed for his stealth, Ashfall noticed him taking exaggeratedly slow steps; each one a labor requiring careful thought and planning. Shadowfrost and Copperblaze took the lead, fanning out to the right and left, their pelts well suited to the forest unlike Ashfall’s simple grey pelt. Copperblaze’s brown and red hues mixed beautifuly with the bark and soil while Shadowfrost became one with the shadows he’d been named for. Even Hawkshade blended in to the ground beneath his paws. Ashfall, however, felt naked and fluffy… like an outsider in foreign territory as he tried to keep low and use tall grass and foliage to his advantage.  
The going was slow, but proved well worth it when Ashfall’s nose twitched and he inhaled deeply. The scent that greeted him was foreign, unpleasant, and distinctly masculine. “Tom,” he hissed in barely a whisper. From where he crouched several foxlengths away, Copperblaze offered the slightest of nods. Ashfall did not personally recognize Storm’s scent, unfortunately, but he was good enough at tracking to tell that this tom was the only scent. Surely a cat who had declared war on the clans wouldn’t travel alone? Could he really be so foolish… or so confident?  
None of the other cats called out other scents. Perhaps they’d been right and this was just some rogue stalking through their territory. After all, it wasn’t unheard of to want freedom from the twolegplace. Beyond Windclan was expansive territory. A cat could make a good life for themselves out there if they were determined enough.  
Slowly, the scent grew stronger and their pace slowed even more. The scent was fresh, not even an hour old and Ashfall felt his fur prickle with anticipation. His heart was hammering in his ears like roaring water, muting the already soft sounds of his and the others’ pawsteps. They inched along, following the scent until they came to a particularly dense bit of trees and found that the trail led… nowhere.  
Ashfall hesitated, sniffing about. The trail didn’t go on from there. In fact, it smelled incredibly strong here. He looked about, scouring for further scent, slightly perplexed. Hawkshade and Shadowfrost did the same.   
And, all at once, the silence was broken.  
“In the tree!” Copperblaze yowled suddenly.   
Ashfall’s eyes flicked upward in time to see a shape looming high above them, perched on a branch with eyes like the greenest grass drowned in a sea of blue. He saw the tail of the tom flicking about, his form a mere silhouette against the backdrop of sunshine. And suddenly, the tom’s mouth opened and he let out a terrible, screeching war cry before leaping down upon them.  
Ashfall’s first thought was that this tom was out of his mind as he fell from the trees and landed squarely on Shadowfrost’s back, the weight of the tom and the fall crushing the black tom into the ground. There was a flash of grey fur as Storm lunged for Shadowfrost’s neck, but Copperblaze quickly crashed into the tom with a cry of his own and a slash from his fearsome claws.  
Hawkshade and Ashfall both tensed and readied to help in the battle when Ashfall suddenly felt claws dig deep into his back. He yowled and whirled about, bucking and kicking and catching the slightest flash of a thin, white tail as he twisted about to dislodge the cat from his back. Teeth sank into the thick fluff of his neck and Ashfall reared up and fell onto his back, hearing an ‘oof’ from his opponent as the wind was knocked from their lungs.  
Despite this, however, the cat did not release and Ashfall was forced to haul himself to his paws with the attacker still desperately clinging to his fur. He rolled again, realizing his mistake too late when another cat came rushing forward with a fearsome cry. She was gorgeous, Ashfall noticed, the fact almost disarming him as the she-cat’s claws flashed at his stomach, grazing the surface of the soft flesh, barely a whisker’s width from a fatal blow. Ashfall kicked out and managed to strike the she-cat in the face. Red hot, burning pain roared through his back as his other attacker was determined not to be forgotten.  
Ashfall hopped to his paws again and rushed forward, diving and rolling over his shoulder to hopefully smack his attacker’s face into the ground. It worked. Ashfall felt the claws slowly release from his back and gratefully rolled back onto his feet to face his two attackers and finally get an idea of the fight going on around him.  
He didn’t have long to look, but Copperblaze and Shadowfrost were still fiercely fighting with Storm. Closer by, Hawkshade was desperately rolling with a small, tawny she-cat Ashfall immediately recognized to be Mapleclaw. Before he had time to react, however, his first attacker struck again.  
The tom – for it was a tom, Ashfall realized, lunged for Ashfall and slashed at his muzzle. Ashfall backed up onto his hindlegs and struck down, slamming his huge paws onto the tom’s shoulders and slamming him into the ground. Quickly, Ashfall clamped his jaws down upon the tom’s small foreleg and spun about, smacking the small tom against a nearby tree. However, the she-cat quickly took his place and latched onto Ashfall’s ear, her claws viciously flailing against his fur in an attempt to snag much more precious flesh.  
Ashfall turned on her and swiped with a mighty paw, striking her away, but he was again pestered by the tom who sank his fangs into Ashfall’s backleg, giving the she-cat time to lunge forward from the other side and crash into Ashfall with such force that he was knocked off his paws. Fangs found Ashfall’s throat, digging as deep as they could. His fluff again saved him from a fatal blow, but the pain was unbelievable as he forced himself up, desperately kicking his back leg as he tried to slam his massive weight into the she-cat. She nimbly backed up, giving Ashfall time to turn on the tom and snap at him, but he darted away and gave the she-cat time to catch Ashfall from the other side.   
They’re too damn fast. Ashfall hissed in frustration, hoping Hawkshade would be rid of Mapleclaw before long. However, his hopes were dashed as he heard a frantic cry and spun about to see that Mapleclaw had managed to slash a nasty cut into Hawkshade’s side. The tom looked tired, but kept snapping and fighting. Ashfall willed his pained legs to move and rushed away from his own attackers to crash into Mapleclaw as she darted about.  
The small she-cat stood no match to Ashfall’s weight and crashed to the ground. He had her pinned and was about to deliver a fatal blow when Ashfall’s own attackers caught up. Both slammed into his side, knocking him off his paws and suddenly leaving his stomach vulnerable to attacks from all three. Hawkshade intervened, jumping between them and lashing about in a fearsome whirlwind as the cats lunged and bit at him in a vicious, bloody cycle.  
We’re losing. The thought was hard to stomach and Ashfall could only desperately hope that Shadowfrost and Copperblaze were doing better than them.  
As if on cue, there was a rustling in the bushes as Copperblaze came bursting through, flanks heaving as he held a limp figure in his jaws. With horror, Ashfall recognized Shadowfrost, still and covered in blood. “Retreat!” Copperblaze bellowed just as Storm came barreling after him through the bushes and slammed the tom into the ground.  
Ashfall hesitated, desperately wanting to help, but Hawkshade crashed to the ground beside him and Mapleclaw loomed above, a wicked grin on her face as she readied her claws. The massive, grey tom forced himself to his paws and slammed into Mapleclaw again, receiving a slash across his muzzle as he did so. Both crashed to the ground, failing to land on their paws, but Mapleclaw had two other cats to back up her attacks while Ashfall and Hawkshade were already tired and fading fast.  
Hawkshade rose to stand by Ashfall’s side and both waited for the next attack. In one, fluid movement, the she-cat, the tom, and Mapleclaw all lunged. Mapleclaw went for Hawkshade, the two others went for Ashfall. Ashfall bounced back to dodge them, but the she-cat rushed forward and nipped his back leg, distracting him long enough for the tom to get in close. Ashfall was ready this time, however, and struck the tom to the ground with a violent blow. He dove upon the downed tom, but felt the she-cat on his back once again, her claws viciously tearing into him. The tom then had a chance to kick as well, claws tearing more at Ashfall’s stomach to the point the blinding pain of his condition made it hard for Ashfall to stand.  
Suddenly, the pain on his back was ripped away and the she-cat went tumbling a short ways away. Ashfall wheeled around to see Copperblaze lunge for Mapleclaw and knock her away from Hawkshade just as she’d had him backed up against a tree. “Get Shadowfrost and run!” Copperblaze spat to Ashfall, blood trickling down the side of his jaw. “Get help! We can’t win this!”  
“But-“  
Again, pain shot through Ashfall as claws tore down the side of his flank and he realized Copperblaze was right. They had to retreat or they’d all be killed. He ensured Hawkshade had heard and saw the tom was already frantically limping off into the bushes. Ashfall dove forward to pluck Shadowfrost off the ground and turned to retreat.   
The grey tom, Storm, quickly jumped in the way of Ashfall’s path, blood dripping from his open mouth as his sides rose and fell and his eyes were alight with a sadistic sort of energy. “None of you are getting out of here alive,” he spat.  
Ashfall readied himself, eyes narrowing, but there was no way he could hold up any sort of decent fight with Shadowfrost in his jaws. He just prayed to Starclan he’d find a way and rushed forward, frightened that this tom was not that much smaller than himself and worried what that’d mean for shoving his way through. His shoulder slammed into Storm’s side and claws dug into Ashfall’s fur as Storm twisted about to get a grip on his neck.  
I can’t do it. The thought scared Ashfall half to death, but just as quickly as the fear rose, it subsided for Ashfall saw the flash of a white pelt he knew all too well. Storm released Ashfall with a shocked cry and Ashfall only had a second to turn and confirm his suspicions. Crouched in front of Storm was a small tom, his brown tail fluffed up as he lunged and slashed at the much bigger cat.   
“Go!” Cinderpaw yowled, turning to glance at Ashfall for a moment as he nimbly jumped away from Storm’s slashing claws. Ashfall didn’t have time to object with Shadowfrost between his teeth and hoped the apprentice knew what he was doing. The last thing he saw was Storm lunging for Cinderpaw. If he gets hit, Storm could crush him…   
Ashfall ran as fast as his tired paws could, mouth full of fur rich with the taste of blood. His neck craned awkwardly, desperately trying to hold onto Shadowfrost in such a way that the tom would not repeatedly strike against his paws as he fled.   
There was no way he could have outrun those cats, but somehow, by the mercy of Starclan above, Ashfall could not hear the sound of cats following after and he supposed Storm’s words must have been nothing other than idle threats. He could hear Shadowfrost’s labored breathing and finally found himself able to breathe just a little. They’d made it out… even if they’d walked straight into an ambush.  
With relief, Ashfall heard paws behind him and saw Cinderpaw out of the corner of his eye, bloody, but running just fine. The tom tore ahead of his mentor and dashed off back to camp, undoubtedly to alert the clan about what had happened.   
I’m going to kill him for disobeying me.  
It was only when the sound of gurgling water could be heard that Ashfall realized that his voyage seemed eerily quiet. However, worried that he wouldn’t be able to go on if he stopped, he rushed all the way into the clearing where cats were already gathered. Hawkshade had arrived ahead of Ashfall and collapsed in the clearing, panting feebly as the medicine cat, Nightsky rushed out to him with a mouthful of herbs.  
“Ashfall? Shadowfrost!” Springstar yowled from where she’d been sitting beside the ancient oak. She bounded over with a couple warriors who carefully took Shadowfrost from Ashfall’s jaws and brought him directly to Nightsky. Ashfall was too blind with tired panic to even recognize who they were.  
Springstar looked over Ashfall and then looked behind him, to the sides of him, and finally up into his eyes, her own wide and frightened. “Where’s Copperblaze?”  
Suddenly, Ashfall remembered what sound had seemed eerily absent during his retreat and he found himself frozen, looking upon the scene as if he was someone else, watching the horror in his own golden eyes.   
“We need to go help,” Ashfall murmured, the words not sounding like his own. How had he been so foolish? He’d been so caught up about Cinderpaw that he’d forgotten to check if Copperblaze was even following!!!  
“Show me where,” Springstar hissed, those same warriors standing at her side, ready to rush into battle with her.  
Ashfall felt like he was about to collapse. His paws felt numb, everything felt numb, but as quickly as the horror rose, it vanished. Copperblaze needed him. They had to get back. “Let’s go!” He yowled to his clanmates and rushed back through the reed tunnel and into the water. How had he managed to wade through that with Shadowfrost in his jaws? So much of what had happened felt like a terrible, distant memory.  
He pushed onward.  
As one, the patrol thundered along, back towards the thickest part of the forest where they had been fighting. Only on the way there did Ashfall realize just how far he had somehow managed to flee with Shadowfrost secured in his jaws. When panicked, the flight had been so quick, so surreal, and now? Ashfall wanted every step to be faster, every foxlength to come sooner as they dashed along.  
Finally, however, the scent of blood grew thick, but no sounds were heard. Whatever fighting there had been must have come to an end. The patrol made their way through the bushes and into the thick of the trees where they had been ambushed to find one shape laying, nestled almost peacefully between two roots of a great oak tree.  
The red and brown of Copperblaze’s pelt only glimmered all the more brightly in the midday sun. The entire area looked like a glorious sunset, with reds and browns decorating the green grass and dirt. Copperblaze was resting on his side, mouth slightly agape and eyes wide, staring up towards the leaves that hung above him, but they did not blink. His tail stretched out behind him and his paws remained slightly outstretched, claws still extended and thick with matted grey fur and blood.  
Where his throat should have been was a large, gaping hole from which blood still trickled out, down the tree’s roots and into the grass where it had pooled.  
Ashfall couldn’t say a single thing and only started dumbly at the corpse of his father.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Want more content, art, and opportunities to ask about the characters?  
> Visit the fic's official tumblr!   
> https://aroguenamedstorm.tumblr.com/


	7. The Widow

Dovetail sat outside the ancient willow, her tail curled neatly about her paws as she waited for Springstar to finish talking with Ashfall and Copperblaze. Though the threat of the rogues was very real, her mind kept wandering to other things and she couldn’t help the excited swell of her heart at the prospects for the day.  
Finally, finally, her kits would be named apprentices! The news was equal parts joyful and tragic. Her limbs ached for long days out patrolling with her clan and her brain hungered for action, not constantly reminding Owlkit that he couldn’t eat dirt, or that plant, or that one. Then again, however, they were her kits and it felt like they had only just been born. She remembered them wiggling against her stomach, small heads raised as they vainly sniffed for the source of milk.  
Their eyes had all been shut tight, their muzzles open to show tiny, pink mouths. Their little paws had prodded at her stomach and their small, furry shapes had huddled beside her on cold nights. And now her little terrors were going to train to be warriors. They’d learn the ways of the world. They’d learn the beauty and pain in it all…  
Featherkit had been the smallest of all. In fact, she was the smallest kit Dovetail ever raised. And she’d always been afraid. At night, the kit would awake suddenly, mewling for her mother even before she could speak. It was only recently that Featherkit had actually explained her worries to her mother in the kit’s usual, nervous manner.  
Dreams. Strange, dark, abnormal dreams that shouldn’t haunt such a young mind.  
I dreamed of a grey cat with eyes like algae floating in still water. He stood in the middle of a river filled with blood and he kept glancing back and forth. Dead cats floated in the river and he kept staring at them, kept growing angrier, but every time he tried to jump, he splashed back into the water and found himself drenched in blood.  
The she-kit had looked so scared and Dovetail, too, had felt slightly frightened at her daughter’s tale. The kit didn’t know it, but she’d perfectly described Storm and the dream itself sounded like the divine messages that would be delivered to medicine cats.   
I’ve had more too. I saw a she-cat with a red, spotted pelt. She sat with another, black she-cat and together, they dipped their paws into the same river from my other dream and it turned to blood.   
There was one with a black tom… his eyes were like blue ice and he was talking to this she-cat…   
Another where I saw Dad! He seemed so sad, though, and he kept trying to talk to me, but it was like he couldn’t hear what I said. He wanted to warn me of something, but I couldn’t hear him.  
Dovetail jumped as she heard a rustling sound and turned to see the sleek, black medicine cat sit down beside her. The tom took a moment to lick his long, black fur, his eyes distant and filled with grief. Dovetail knew this must be hard for him. The thought of an apprentice hadn’t even entered his mind ever since he lost Sunpaw to Mapleclaw.  
“You’re certain she isn’t just having nightmares…?” Nightsky requested, not bothering to begin with formalities as they both knew why he was here.  
Dovetail nodded, trying desperately to understand how such things could happen to her precious baby. “I don’t understand. I thought medicine cats only received gifts from Starclan once they were accepted at the Moonstone. How could she already be having dreams? She’s so young.”  
Nightsky shook his head and drew in a deep breath, turning to watch Dovetail with calm, green eyes. “I don’t know, but I do know Starclan never gives a cat a gift without reason. Whatever the purpose of Featherkit having these powers… Starclan believed it necessary.” The tom shifted uncomfortably and unsheathed his claws to carefully draw in the dirt with one paw as he spoke. “We are living in dark times. Thistlestar, Mapleclaw, Leopardsong, Storm. The clans are suffering and evil seems to be bleeding into every part of the clans. Perhaps Featherkit is here to help steer us away from further tragedy.”  
“Enough cats have suffered,” Dovetail agreed with a sigh. Her thoughts went back to Hawkshade. The tom had sat with his brother for so long and pleaded so loudly when they had come to bury Owltuft. Foxtail had quietly sulked in the nursery for weeks… Nightsky still showed the pain of the loss on his face. “If my kit will help our clan, I’m more than willing to let you become her mentor…”  
“So, it’s decided then?” Both cats turned to see Springstar approach. Behind her, the patrol was quietly taking their leave while Ashfall spent a moment talking with his own apprentice.  
“That all depends on you,” Dovetail purred in amusement as she watched her daughter. “You’re in charge here, not me.”  
Springstar laughed at that, her eyes gleaming as the smile was brought back to her face - that precious smile that Dovetail loved so much. Despite everything the world threw at Springstar, ever since she’d been a kit, the she-cat had never lost her heart and Dovetail prayed she never would. “If it weren’t for you and Copperblaze, I’d never have the faintest idea how to be a leader,” Springstar purred.  
“You would not be leader if Starclan did not believe you fit to rule,” Nightsky objected politely. “Starclan chose to grant you nine lives which means Starclan intended for you to be leader of Riverclan.”  
Springstar hesitated and her yellow eyes flickered to the ground at that. “Sure, but… that same Starclan made Thistlestar leader and… he’s the one who made me deputy.” She measured before quickly diverting the subject away. “Alright! So, Featherkit will be mentored by Nightsky, if you are alright with that?”  
Both cats nodded.  
“Excellent…” Springstar paused as her face contorted with thought much like Copperblaze’s did. Dovetail had always found the wrinkled nose quite cute and it warmed her heart to see her daughter so much like him. “I’ll figure out the other two!” She decided perkily with a wide smile to them both. “But I want it to be a surprise, so just lay low until Copperblaze gets back!”  
Dovetail nodded mildly and offered her daughter a purr. “Of course. I trust you’ll make wise choices. I’ll go visit the nursery one last time. I must admit, I’ll miss the softer moss…” she smiled before taking her leave from both the cats.  
A quick bound across the grassy clearing brought Dovetail to the thick nettles which defended the precious nursery. Inside, everything was quiet. The kits had gone off to play near the elder’s den and give Foxtail some much needed space. Dovetail slipped inside of the dimly lit den and could only just make out the white form of Foxtail curled up in her nest.  
Dovetail thought she was asleep, but the she-cat raised her head as Dovetail entered and turned to watch her. Even in the faint light, Foxtail was unbelievably beautiful with her stomach swollen with unborn kits. Her fur was a beautiful, pearly white, but her face and tail were a rusty red that contrasted with her shining, sky blue eyes.  
“So, are the kits to be apprenticed?” Foxtail purred gently and shifted onto her paws by an uncomfortable series of small adjustments. With how swollen her stomach was, Dovetail was astonished that the queen had yet to give birth.  
“Featherkit will become a medicine cat and the other two will train to be warriors,” Dovetail purred, unable to hide all the pride from her tone. “And, best of all, you don’t have to deal with them crawling over you all throughout the night!”  
“I never minded. It’ll be lonely in here without their company,” Foxtail insisted in her soft voice. Dovetail always felt like the queen’s words could end a war if spoken to the right cat. Her very aura was one of calm and gentleness, though there was always that faint glimmer of the grief lying far below.  
“You’ll have kits of your own soon enough!” Dovetail promised as she sauntered over to lay down beside the queen and carefully rasp her tongue along her back. Undoubtedly, her large belly made grooming difficult at this point. “And I doubt it’ll be long before we hear news that some other warrior is pregnant. Perhaps Badgerfoot… you’ve seen the way Crowflight looks at her.”  
Foxtail chuckled at that and gently smacked Dovetail with her tail. “I’ve never known you to be one for gossip.”  
“Gossip is meant for harm. I am merely informing,” Dovetail claimed with a shrug and a slight laugh. “It’d be good, I think. Crowflight’s a nice tom. He’d make a great father and would definitely be helpful to have around the den.”  
“Or I could just steal Copperblaze?” Foxtail teased. “He seems like a good kit-sitter. You don’t mind if I borrow him, do you?”  
Dovetail growled playfully and allowed her tail to lash from side to side. “You’ll have to fight me for him,” she warned, leaning in close to the queen’s ear before offering it a quick, playful lick. “But maybe I’ll let you borrow him from time to time. And I’m sure Hawkshade will come around plenty to check on his nieces and nephews.”  
“You think so…?” Foxtail hesitated, her blue eyes filled with fear for just a moment.  
Dovetail nodded and gently pressed her nose to the queen’s forehead. “These kits are the clan’s and not a single warrior, apprentice, or elder would dare deny them the love and attention they deserve. They’ll be spoiled rotten, raised properly, and loved by everyone. They’re our kits and we will never forget their father either.”  
Foxtail smiled weakly and offered the faintest of nods as she averted her eyes. “Thank you, Dovetail. I know I shouldn’t worry. It’s just… it’s my first kitting and I thought I’d have him to be here…”  
“He wouldn’t have helped,” the elder queen promised softly as she rasped her tongue along Foxtail’s neck. “Believe me. I’ve had two litters and Copperblaze was about as useful as a fish with feet! All he could do was stand there and look stupid. I remember once he even asked, ‘is she dying’?” Dovetail snorted and shook her head. “It won’t be easy, Love, but you’ll be fine. You’re strong and I’ll be right there the entire time. Sound like a deal?”  
“It does,” Foxtail purred and nestled closer to Dovetail as she laid down to get a couple moments of rest before the kits’ naming ceremony.

“Hawkshade!”  
The frantic cry jolted Dovetail out of peaceful dreams. Her head shot up as Foxtail’s did and she caught the distinct scent of blood. “Stay here. I’ll report what’s going on!” Dovetail cried to her friend before she dashed out of the den and into the half-light of the setting sun.   
Hawkshade laid in the clearing, sides heaving miserably as he fought for breath. Blood trickled from wounds on his sides and face. Nightsky frantically darted to and from his den with the herbs he needed while all the cats in the camp slowly trickled out of their dens to watch.  
Springstar quickly came bounding out from her own den, her eyes widening as she saw Hawkshade. Before she could ask anything, however, Cinderpaw came darting back into camp. His fur, too, was marked with blood and he panted heavily as he skidded to a stop.  
“Ambush! In the forest! Storm!” The young tom panted, eyes wide.  
The murmuring around camp grew to frantic cries as cats exchanged glances, unsure what to make of this news. Dovetail stiffened, eyes locked on the entrance as she waited for Ashfall, Copperblaze, and Shadowfrost to return. Where was the rest of the patrol?  
A few seconds longer and Ashfall pushed his way through the entrance with Shadowfrost dangling from his jaws. The large, grey tom looked like a ghost of his former self. His yellow eyes were distant and clouded and each pawstep appeared to be a labor. He hardly reacted as Badgerfoot and Icestripe gingerly took Shadowfrost from his jaws and could only stand there, horrorstruck, while cats milled about him.  
Dovetail saw the fear rising in Springstar’s eyes as she glanced about.  
Where was Copperblaze? Undoubtedly, he would have ensured he was the last to leave. Maybe he’d received some wound and was falling behind…  
“Where’s Copperblaze!?” Springstar finally demanded. Dovetail could tell her daughter was frustrated and barely concealing her anger. It took time, but Ashfall seemed to come to enough to nod and lead the way back through the entrance on heavy, labored paws. Badgerfoot, Icestripe, and Amberspeck followed. Dovetail couldn’t help, but to take a tentative step forward, wanting to join the party, but finding herself somewhat dumbstruck by the entire situation.  
“Cinderpaw!” Dovetail finally barked. The young tom was busy licking the blood from a cut to his shoulder and pricked his ears at his name being called. He hesitated, obviously fearing reproach for his behavior, but there were more urgent matters to attend to at the moment. He obediently padded over with a slight limp.  
“What happened!?” Dovetail demanded before the tom had barely even taken a step.  
“I’m not sure. I didn’t see everything. I fell behind, but… they were in a fight and they were losing. I helped Ashfall get away from some tom… I think it was Storm. Copperblaze told us to retreat and I had to retreat before Storm got me… he was fast and strong and I didn’t want someone to have to come back for me. I figured Copperblaze was close behind me. I didn’t check. I’m sorry. I should have gone back- made sure he was following-“ the tom’s voice grew more broken as he became more panicked. His eyes widened and his voice rose to a squeak.  
Dovetail inched forward to press her nose to his forehead and offer a slight purr. “Shhh, quiet, little one. You did nothing wrong. You obeyed Copperblaze’s orders, as a good warrior does.” Nevermind you deliberately disobeying Springstar’s and Ashfall’s orders to stay in the camp.  
“I can still be a warrior, right? This isn’t my fault…? If something happened?” Cinderpaw continued.  
“Hush, Love. You can still be a warrior. Just go rest and get your wounds attended to. We’ll sort out the rest later, alright?” Dovetail coaxed as she forcefully nudged the young tom off towards Nightsky and Hawkshade.  
His words, however, struck like a killing blow. If something happened. Had something happened? Copperblaze was one of the best warriors in the entire four clans, but even Ashfall and Hawkshade had fallen in this battle. If he’d been left alone to fend them off…  
Dovetail froze. Perhaps he’d not tried to retreat? It’d be just like the tom to try to fend off an entire party by himself if only to buy enough time for his fellow cats to retreat. If he’d done that, no amount of fighting skill could possibly protect a cat for so long…  
But all those questions would be answered in time… painful, slow, miserable time. Dovetail sat in the clearing with her tail curled about her paws as she waited for her daughter and son to bring back her mate. As time drew on, Owlkit, Leafkit, and eventually Featherkit all came to join her, huddled against each other for warmth and eerily silent. They didn’t play, they didn’t fight, they didn’t speak. They only sat and watched.  
Clouds began to dot the sky as time passed on and the sunshine was replaced with a steady downpour and yet there was still no sign of them returning. What if the second patrol had also lost…?  
And then, all worries were calmed as Dovetail caught the slight scent of Ashfall and the others returning. Springstar pushed her was through first with Amberspeck, Badgerfoot, and Icestripe at her sides. Last of all came the big, lumbering shape of Ashfall, gingerly carrying yet another cat in his jaws.  
Despite the blood and rain, Dovetail would recognize that pelt over a thousand lifetimes. “Is he alright!?” She demanded, unable to restrain herself any longer as she bounded over to Ashfall.  
“Mom-“ Springstar moved to block Dovetail’s path, but she forced her way right past her daughter and up to Ashfall.  
The pain in Ashfall’s deep, yellow eyes was greater than any wound could inflict. The grey tom bowed his head to rest his father on the grass and allow Dovetail to see the true damage. Dovetail, however, found herself almost blind to it. She found herself blind to almost everything as the rain pattering about her sounded like crashing thunder and Springstar’s words to her sounded like little more than distant echoes. She heard another voice, probably Nightsky’s, but everything was drowned out by the roaring within her own soul.  
At her paws laid her mate. At Dovetail’s paws laid the confident, young warrior she’d fallen in love with when she’d barely been apprenticed. At her paws lay memories of splashing about in the river, sneaking off to watch the sunrise, ambushing each other in the freshly fallen snow. The bloody, drenched coat of red-brown and dark stripes had once pressed against her when she shuddered against the cold of winter nights. Those eyes which stared so hollowly at the sky had once convinced her that there was nothing on earth that she could not do if she tried hard enough.  
Dovetail slowly slumped, collapsing into the green grass as she pressed her face into Copperblaze’s wet fur, desperately hoping for the faint sound of breathing or the slightest rise and fall of his chest, but all was still and cold. To either side, Dovetail heard the small patter of pawsteps as the kits approached their fallen father.  
Suddenly, everything that had become so dull came crashing back at full volume. Dovetail hadn’t even realized she had cried out in agony and only now realized the frightened, grief-stricken expressions of Ashfall and Springstar watching her. Her daughter’s yellow eyes, however, were too much to bear. They looked too much like her father’s. Stonepaw had quietly crept over to sit by his mentor’s side. He pressed against Springstar and watched them all with eyes filled with boundless pity and grief.  
Dovetail cast her gaze back to her kits as Owlkit inched forward first and gently nudged Copperblaze with a paw and a plaintive meow. “Dad?”  
“Daddy!?” Featherkit cried more frantically – likely the loudest cry the young she-cat had ever uttered.  
“Momma, he’s going to be alright, right?” Leafkit pleaded as she turned her yellow eyes to Dovetail.  
Why did they all have those same, damn eyes? Why did they all look to her? Why did they expect her to have the answers!? How was she to understand what cruel manipulators of fate would rip the world away from her like this.  
Despite the pain, Dovetail found herself speaking, almost instinctively, like a well-rehearsed act rather than herself. “No, Leafkit. He’s with Starclan, now…” Dovetail informed softly as she brought her kits closer to herself with her tail.   
“But dad can’t die! He’s the best warrior in the forest!” Owlkit objected.  
Dovetail visibly flinched. She’d thought so too. “I know. I know, Babies… but sometimes… sometimes things happen, and you can’t understand why. He’s in a better place now… and he can still watch over you, from Starclan. He’ll always be right there, watching and smiling at his little kits.”  
“Apprentices…” Springstar murmured softly.  
Dovetail turned to her daughter whose head was hung with grief. She didn’t seem able to look up from her paws for several seconds, but lingered in her mournful state. Finally, she raised her pained eyes to her mother. “He wanted them to be made apprentices when he got back…”  
“Surely it can wait?” Ashfall objected, his voice weak and barely audible. The tom was shaking slightly as he battled to keep his composure. “At this moment…?”  
“He’s right… another day will do just as well,” Willowfur called as she rose to take a step towards them all.  
“Starclan can surely wait one day,” Nightsky agreed as he glanced between everyone in turn.  
Dovetail paused and looked about. All eyes of the clan were on her family, huddled about their loved one. Everyone looked riddled with grief, from the oldest to the youngest. Copperblaze had never been one to quietly go about his day. If he could make just one cat smile… just once, he’d be all the happier for it.  
“He’d want it... this way…” Dovetail finally found the strength to speak. Her kits pressed against her and whimpered.   
I wanted to keep you all from the pain of the world… and here we are, swimming in it.  
“It was Copperblaze’s final request before he left,” Springstar began in a voice that cracked beyond repair. For once, Dovetail’s daughter did not bother to hide her weakness. Instead, she let it show as she stepped back slightly and looked between all the clan members. “He wanted Leafkit, Owlkit, and Featherkit to become apprentices… like he promised.”  
The kits froze and looked between one another, to Dovetail, and finally to their leader. It pained Dovetail to imagine how overjoyed they would have been to hear this news earlier, but now…  
“Please,” Springstar’s voice cracked again and she battled to keep it steady. “Step forward.”  
Tentatively, each kit stepped over Dovetail’s tail and over to their older sister. Their eyes were wide and filled with incomprehensible grief. Not even Owlkit smiled, despite how often he’d spoken of this day.  
“All of you are the spitting image of Dad…” Springstar began, causing a stir in the crowd as her words diverted from the traditional script. “Leafkit, Owlkit… you have his eyes… his courage… You all have his stripes. Undoubtedly, you have his spirit…” she broke off again, desperately searching for the words to speak.  
“When I was just a kit, I remember how often cats would come to Copperblaze, asking him to be deputy. He was one of the best and everyone believed that he deserved the role, but he would always insist that he wanted nothing more than to ‘die as a warrior’. Never an elder,” the leader smiled weakly. “And never as anything more. Copperblaze knew where he belonged. Because of him, I sit here today. Because of him, a lot of us are where we are now. Through his guidance, his mentoring,” Ashfall slowly bowed his head lower beside Springstar. “We’ve all learned something from him and dammit…”  
The clearing fell silent as Springstar fought to take in another shaky breath and continue. “May he watch over us now and may we all make him proud. May you three make your father proud, as I know you all will. Badgerfoot, you have always been a gentle and confident warrior. May you watch over Owlkit’s training now-“  
Springstar paused again, cursing herself under her breath as she tried again. “Owlkit… Leafkit… Featherkit… from now on you will be known as Owlpaw, Leafpaw, and Featherpaw… Badgerfoot, will you-“  
Badgerfoot inched forward mercifully to press her nose against Owlpaw’s and give Springstar a second to compose herself. Owlpaw watched Badgerfoot with a cloudy gaze and didn’t seem to have the strength to smile. “You’ll make your father proud,” the she-cat purred and Dovetail saw the slightest glimmer of hope flicker across Owlpaw’s eyes.  
“Leafpaw… you will be mentored by Crowflight. May his swiftness and joy be passed to you and may you blossom under his instruction.” The small, black tom inched forward to press his nose to the young grey tabby’s. Leafpaw managed the smallest smile.  
“We’ll make him proud,” she spoke softly and Dovetail couldn’t help, but feel her heart swell slightly at her kits’ courage, even as they stood beside the corpse of their father.  
“Lastly,” Springstar took in another shuddering breath. “Featherpaw… may Nightsky be your mentor and may he pass on his wisdom and compassion to you. I know you’ll become a great medicine cat, someday. You don’t need to be a warrior to make Dad proud.”  
Featherpaw nodded mutely and pressed her nose to Nightsky’s as he approached. Dovetail noted that the apprentice was shaking with worry and hoped that this wouldn’t make her worse off than ever before.  
Cats moved to go congratulate the newly named apprentices and mourn over their lost friend, but Springstar stopped them dead as she continued. “And one other thing!” She called, her voice growing stronger now as a growl rose in her voice. “You all likely have guessed who is at fault for what happened here today, but in case you aren’t… Storm did this. Storm and Mapleclaw came into our territory. They killed my father. They killed one of the best warriors we have ever had. They killed the father of these apprentices and they stole a great friend and mentor from us all.”  
Springstar fell silent and hung her head to watch her paws as her jaw clenched into a snarl. “And believe me when I say… we’ll make them pay.”


	8. The Rogue

The walk to the twolegplace was made all the more intolerable in the grueling leaffall heat. The four cats went along in silence, each carrying as much as they could carry in their jaws. At the head of the group stalked a large, grey tom. He let out a soft growl with each step as every small motion of his foreleg sent shooting pain through the narrow gash in his shoulder.  
“You ought to see Scrap,” the she-cat walking beside him sighed. She turned her green gaze upon him, but the tom kept his seafoam green eyes locked on the ground before his paws. “It could get infected,” the she-cat meowed again as she stopped in her tracks to set down the mice she’d been forced to talk around.   
The tom paused and turned to look the she-cat over as she sat in the glistening sun. Her tawny fur gleamed, grey on top of a golden brown. A jagged cut arched its way across one of her green eyes, still red and fresh from their fight. Before everything that had happened, no doubt most cats would have found Mapleclaw beautiful, but now “Tansy” as she preferred to be called held a dark malice behind her eyes that no amount of kind words could ever hope to hide.  
“I will bring the food with Amethyst.” The tom finally murmured. “You and Sandy can head back to Scrap. Your eye is more concerning and they all have to eat-“  
“Storm,” the Tansy broke in almost desperately, but he just stepped forward to grab the prey she had dropped. He didn’t want a lecture right now and he could tell she was worried.  
“I need time to think,” Storm growled through the feathers of his pigeon as he gingerly plucked up the mice by their tails.   
Nearby, Sandy offered his haul to the beautiful, young she-cat, Amethyst. She was white with tabby markings of a golden brown and darker brown shade dispersed across her back and chest while her neck and tail remained pure white. She seemed fine after their fighting with only a couple light scrapes. Sandy had taken the brunt of the blows across his long, suitably sand-colored pelt. In particular, he had a long gash across his side that nearly threatened tearing into his stomach.   
“Just head back with us. They can wait,” the Tansy objected.  
Storm paused a moment and watched her with a level gaze before turning and leaving. “I’ll see you back at camp, Tansy, and I better not hear that Scrap hasn’t treated you,” he said through his mouthful of prey before he bounded off into the bushes and away from the former Riverclan cat.  
They went on without stopping, as fast as Storm’s legs could carry him. He had thinking to do.  
“What do you think you’ll accomplish with all this? Do you think a war will truly bring an end to your suffering? War breeds hatred and death. It doesn’t bring about new order or peace!”  
Storm snarled more loudly and not from the pain of his wound as the twoleg fences came into sight. In a couple bounds, Storm cleared the thunderpath without even stopping, unafraid of the monsters that roared across it. On the other side, he followed a couple streets at a brisk pace until the peaceable suburbia was replaced with narrow streets, rising buildings, and dark side alleys rich with the scent of death and rot. The whole place stank and the hot, warm ground beneath Storm’s paws clung to his skin as if it was so coated in blood.  
Behind him, Amethyst was keeping pace as Storm took another turn into an even narrower alley lined with the grey, metal boxes where the twolegs always disposed of food. In the shadow of the great container lay a small box with two shapes huddled within which moved as they heard their approach.  
“Storm?” A feeble she-cat meowed from within. She tentatively poked out her head to reveal beautiful, tabby features and sightless, white eyes.  
“Yes, it’s me,” Storm purred as he carefully set down his haul so that he could talk properly.  
“Storm!” There was a faint cry as the smallest kit Storm had ever seen came crawling out from the protection of his mother’s box. He hobbled along on ungainly, crooked legs from when he’d met with a particularly surly twoleg several moons ago. “You brought us food again?”  
“Yes, yes.” Storm purred. He glanced back to where Amethyst lingered, eyes scanning the area for anything suspicious. She was new to the group and these routes were unfamiliar to her. “It’s alright.” He assured with a flick of his tail. “This is Poppy and her kit is named Tiger.”  
Amethyst slowly stepped forward to view them both, unable to conceal the horror in her gaze. “Your hindlegs…” she murmured, eyeing the way the young tom had to half-drag his haunches after him.  
Tiger smiled up at her, anyways, and bounced forward with the confidence of one without any ailment. “Yeah, but it’s fine! I can still fight and defend my mom and that’s what matters!” He declared proudly as the little kit puffed out his tabby chest.   
“You certainly can,” Amethyst purred gently as her green eyes flickered over to Storm.  
Storm simply shook his head. “Now, what would you prefer today? I caught a robin, a couple mice… we have a shrew and even one rabbit.”  
“The rabbit…?” Poppy requested, unable to raise her head as she spoke. Her ears flattened in embarrassment, but the rumbling of her stomach admitted what she was too afraid to say.  
“Of course,” Storm purred and nudged the rabbit over. Poppy sniffed at it, nervously at first, before she dug into it with a terrible hunger. Tiger fell upon it as well, his words of thanks lost in the tiny growl he admitted as he tore into the soft flesh. “I’ll come back as soon as I can with more,” Storm promised and quickly snatched up the remaining prey and padded on.  
“Storm, what is this?” Amethyst finally called as they turned down another side path to head off to Gray’s home.  
Storm stopped to place his prey on the ground once more before turning to the she-cat. “What do you mean?”  
“Who are they…?” Amethyst requested more hesitantly. She didn’t even jump as a monster roared past, splashing dirty water on them both and dirtying their precious load of prey.  
“The reason we’re doing all of this,” Storm replied softly as he plucked his prey back up and hurried onwards. They had many more cats to go before they could be finished and the stinging of his shoulder warned of infection if he didn’t get it treated soon.  
He had met Poppy long ago, when he was just a kit, scared and lost in the big, bad world of the twolegs. She hadn’t been completely then and she knew the twolegplace better than Storm knew his own pelt. She taught him to survive and, in return, he’d helped her survive even after she’d had a run-in with a territorial tom and wound up with Tiger.  
Next was Gray, whom they found huddled under a bush. He stirred as they approached, but his raspy breathing was only growing worse now. The old tom slowly hauled himself to his paws and inched out to look them both over. “Food?”  
“Always,” Storm purred to hide his grief as he saw just how many of Gray’s ribs were beginning to show under his pelt. Why wasn’t he getting fatter? Surely, he was eating enough now.  
Gray quickly took a mouse and devoured it within moments between bouts of coughing and wheezing.   
“You’re getting sicker… next time I’ll bring some herbs from Scrap.”  
“I’m not resortin’ to that clan cat garbage!” Gray spat venomously, spouting out bits of food as he spoke. “I’d rather die than get help from the same monsters that put us in this situation!”  
“Scrap isn’t a clan cat-“Amethyst began.  
“But she was!” Gray interrupted savagely. “Just like that she-cat you’ve been runnin’ around with, Storm! Where’s your loyalty to us? I thought you were against all those bastards and their entitled bullshit! We’re over here starvin’ while they get fat off their land. You know, just the other day we lost Quinn! I had to watch my brother die and what are those fat forest cats doin’? Saunterin’ about their borders and pissin’ on all us who don’t have their precious clan blood!”  
Storm paused and lowered his gaze back down to his paws. “I’m working on it,” he promised gingerly as he rose to leave the tom in peace. “Please, if I bring herbs… consider taking them, Gray. Scrap’s sworn off the warrior code and all the clan cats stand for. She’s one of us, now. She’s suffered like we all have.”  
“Like we all do,” the tom corrected more softly. “We’re all hopin’ for you, Storm. And we’re right behind you if you ever-“  
“No!” Storm snarled. “None of you are dying for this. No one else needs to die!” He felt his hackles rise with each word he spoke, too many faces flashing through his memories. “I will get you all the forest you deserve… you all just have to be patient and trust me…”  
Gray smiled, his brown eyes gleaming affectionately as he looked Storm over. “We all trust in you, Son. You’re the face of the revolution… and if you can’t bring us justice, I don’t know if anyone ever will.”  
Storm smiled back before he hauled himself back to his paws and once again plucked up the prey in his jaws. His legs were already growing stiff and the ache in his shoulder was slowly drifting towards searing pain. Next was Robin, then Twix and Fang, and last of all would be Willowwisp.   
“Once you start this war, there’ll be no victory for anyone. Surely you can’t be that naïve? Even if you win, what will you leave behind? Another clan? Anarchy? At least we have leadership here. At least we have structure and order. Without that, it’ll only be survival of the fittest and everyone you hope to protect will still die and this time… it’ll be your fault.”  
Even when looking in the face of death, the tom had been determined to plead with Storm, not for his own life, but for Storm’s soul. Storm couldn’t shake the image of that tabby tom standing between all four of them and his retreating clanmate. He’d fought like twenty cats, somehow managing to tackle any of them before they could snag the large, grey tom or the small apprentice who had helped serve as a distraction.  
Even when Storm had finally struck him down and the tom lay before him, breathless and completely at their mercy, there had been no fear in his eyes. He’d only looked up at Storm with those golden eyes that seemed to sear into Storm’s very soul.  
“What do you hope to accomplish by killing me?”  
“Killing you will bring us one step closer to ending the clans – and finally giving rogues and loners a home with food and warm beds. It would be a place free from the fear of twolegs and their monsters and free from the cold grip of starvation.”  
What had Storm seen in the tom’s expression, then? Undoubtedly, it had changed and all the fire seemed to die from him then. He wasn’t giving up, no, for the tom, even as he lay at Storm’s paws, held his head as proudly as a leader among kits. Had he pitied Storm? What a fool. I don’t need pity. All these cats need pity. All of those left to suffer while you and your kin grow fat and content in your little dens…  
“Storm!” Storm was barely even cognizant as they reached Robin and offered her some prey. She talked, mostly with Amethyst, from the sounds of it, but Storm’s mind and thoughts were trapped in that forest with the tabby tom.  
“I’m sorry.”  
He’d meant it, too, Storm realized.   
“What happened to Mapleclaw… I’ll have you know that I tried to fight for her- I- no one deserves to be banished like that. Our leader was flawed and I admit we made a mistake in remaining silent.”  
“Because of you my kits died! Because of your clan, because of everything you stand for, Ajax was killed when he did nothing wrong! He just wanted to see me!” Tansy bristled as she stalked forward to stare down the tom whom Storm figured she knew quite well.   
“I’m so sorry,” the tom had murmured and averted his gaze then. “I wish I had done more to help you, but I was a fool. I will carry that to my grave.”  
“Well, you won’t have to carry it for long, then,” Tansy had hissed as she braced to tear out the tom’s throat. He, however, had turned his golden eyes back on Storm. Something about the pure, genuine emotion lying within stopped Storm in his tracks and he remained in the way of Tansy’s claws.  
“This isn’t the way, Storm. We can end this here and now. We can find some sort of compromise before there’s any more bloodshed. No one needs to suffer.”  
“We’re passed negotiating now…” Storm growled as his eyes clouded over.   
And then his mind went back further, to his younger self frantically dashing through the Shadowclan forest as if death itself was snapping at his heels. He’d run all the way to the Shadowclan camp, then, as quickly as he could possibly go.  
“Please! I need a medicine cat! I beg you, please!”  
“What are you doing here? You don’t belong here! You’re that rogue! The one who steals prey and fights our patrols! Get out of here! Leave this place before we drive you out!”  
“I know what I’ve done, but she’s done nothing! Please, she’s dying! I beg you! Just show mercy this once-“  
“Storm.”  
Storm paused and looked about, realizing he had frozen in the middle of the alley. His jaw was clenched and his fangs bared as he stood there in the growing darkness of the day. He felt water splash against his pelt and only then realized that it had begun to rain. How long had he been standing here? Beside him was Willowwisp, gingerly pressing her muzzle into the fur of his neck.   
“You bear burdens greater than I can ever hope to understand, but are you alright?” The old she-cat croaked as she stepped back from Storm for a moment to look him over. Behind her, Amethyst stood by with wide, frightened eyes.  
“I’m fine,” Storm slowly nodded as he craned his neck to press his dark nose to Willowwisp’s small, pink one. Her blue eyes glistened.  
“Thank you for the food, Storm. We all owe you for what you do for us… if you ever need anything-“  
“Don’t do that. I only offer what you all deserve,” Storm promised as he rasped his tongue over Willowwisp’s cheek to silence her. “Now we have to get back to our camp. I have a war to win.”  
“Perhaps you have more than one,” Willowwisp mused softly as her blue eyes never left Storm’s. “Do be careful.”  
And with that, Storm and Amethyst turned and bounded off. It would be a long journey yet to reach their camp beyond Windclan territory. Assuming they made it back before the sun rose back into the sky, they’d still be forced to go out and find new, young recruits at first light. Though much of the twolegplace was littered with weak, starving cats, there were a few healthy gems hiding within and Storm needed every fit cat he could find if he ever hoped to win this war.

Morning light came much sooner than Storm would have wanted. He and Amethyst had made it back in the dead of night after Sandy, Tansy, and Scrap were already fast asleep. Storm hadn’t felt up for waking Scrap to tend to his wounds. The grizzled old she-cat needed every bit of sleep she could get at this point.  
However, he was rudely awakened by the she-cat prodding at his shoulder as the first few rays of sunshine shone down and bounced off the rock expanse that they had made their dens under. Scrap, in particular, had always been one cat Storm could never believe had ever been attractive. She had matted, white and black fur that was simply gone in a couple patches. Her ears, face, and chest were all riddled with endless scars and her jaw had a slight tilt to it that caused one of her canines to always protrude slightly from under her lip. Her back leg was horribly twisted the wrong way and she only had a furless stump for a tail. Despite everything, her eyes blazed with a fierce determination.  
“About time you woke up,” Scrap grunted as she patted some herbs into Storm’s wound, ignoring his wince. “You quit that, ya baby!” She spat before promptly turning away. “That should help with the infection, assuming you don’t get yourself half-drowned in filth again!”  
Storm purred and didn’t dare argue for it was absolutely impossible to win an argument with Scrap, no matter if you were right or wrong. “How’s Tansy and Sandy?”  
“Oh, they’re both bleeding to death as we speak. A bunch of worthless kits, the lot of you,” Scrap grumbled as she sat down in the sun and proceeded to carefully pick the bits of plant from between her front claws. “And yet you think you can beat the clans?” She snorted.  
“Not alone, no,” Storm confessed. He yawned and slowly stretched which only caused his poor shoulder to ache again, but he would simply have to deal with it. “I was thinking we should go patrolling for new recruits today.”  
“I’ll come.”  
Storm hadn’t even realized that Tansy was up, but sure enough, her one good eye was open as she watched them all from where she lay, nestled against the rock face. “My eye’s a bit sore, but it shouldn’t keep me from coming with you.”  
Storm nodded and glanced to Sandy and Amethyst, but both were still sound asleep and didn’t show any signs of stirring at this point. “I see no harm in just the two of us going. We can travel faster with fewer cats, anyways.”  
“Keep off that shoulder!” Scrap hollered, though she was still just a couple tail lengths away. “If it gets infected, I swear I’m letting you die.”  
Storm chuckled at that and slowly shook his head. “I wouldn’t blame you,” he purred before taking off yet again despite the weariness that hadn’t yet died from his limbs. Nevertheless, there were things greater than himself that had to be attended to.  
Tansy stuck close by his side as they went down the ravine and towards Windclan territory. She glanced to Storm occasionally, her expression unreadable.   
“That tom got in your head, didn’t he?” She finally asked as they ducked under a fence that marked the local twoleg farm.  
“Of course not,” Storm growled too quickly. “I know what I have to do, and no stray warrior is going to sway me. I’ve been in this fight too long to give up now.”  
“Frankly, I’m surprised you didn’t spare his life,” Tansy almost growled as she bounded ahead a couple steps. “The way you kept talking with him… he was obviously stalling to give his clanmates time to catch up and you just gobbled his garbage up!”  
Again, Storm thought back to his conversation with that tom and his ears pinned. “He fought like a warrior so I gave him a chance to speak and then we gave him a quick, honorable death. Is that so bad?”  
“What if his stalling had lasted a little longer!?” Tansy hissed. “That bastard sat and watched me walk out of camp! He didn’t care any more about me than anyone else! He could just spin a good story if his life depended on it.”  
Those golden eyes had told a different story, but Storm wasn’t in the mood for arguing such things with Tansy. Her tie to the matter was too personal for her to ever see things differently. “It won’t happen again.” He promised more softly as he picked up his pace to end the conversation.  
However, they never made it past the Windclan farm as Storm paused, catching the distinct scent of some tom in the area. He turned to warn Tansy, but she’d already noticed the scent and stalked forward with her head raised to take in the scent of the tom. “Hes older,” she mused.  
“And been here a while,” Storm added. The scent of the tom was thick throughout the entire area. Undoubtedly, he’d probably lived here for many moons.  
The scent grew stronger and a rustling could be heard in the grass up ahead. Tansy and Storm both stopped in their tracks, tails raised in a warning as a very large, grizzled tabby tom stepped out of the grass. His entire flank was riddled with scars from many, forgotten battles and his green eyes swam with hard-fought wisdom.  
“This is my territory,” the tom said in a voice like churned gravel. He looked them both over mildly, but Storm could see the tension in the tom’s muscles as he readied to take on any attack that should come. “What are you doing here…?”  
“Well,” Storm paused and glanced over at Tansy. She remained stiff and ready to fight. He didn’t blame her as this tom was easily twice her size and even made Storm question his strength. “We were looking for you… or cats like you, at least.”’  
“Why?” The tom’s eyes narrowed to slits, but he sat down instead of inching forward. “You seem familiar, in fact…” the tom paused and looked between them both as he pondered this. “Are you that zealot that’s been talking about bringing an end to the clans?”  
Storm’s own ears flattened at that. “I wouldn’t call myself a zealot. I’m just trying to do what’s right.”  
“Well I’m in,” the old tom declared with a sense of finality. He rose to his paws, much to the dismay of both Storm and Tansy and looked between them expectantly. “Well? Where to from here?”  
“You’re just… in…?” Tansy hissed suspiciously as she glanced over at Storm. “I’m not sure you understand-“  
“You want to take on the clans and drive them out or kill them,” the tom interrupted in exasperation. “Every cat within this forest has heard about you all and I like what I’ve heard. I believe what you’re fighting for is worthwhile and I want to help. I can hunt and I’m a damn good fighter if you just give me an opponent,” he continued, his lips drawing back in a slight snarl and revealing a couple missing teeth within.  
“And how can we trust you?” Tansy spoke up again as she inched towards the tom and looked him up and down. “This could easily be a trick… you coming out of nowhere like this.”  
“It could be,” the tabby agreed in a growl. “But you’ll never know unless you give me a chance. Let me prove myself, and you’ll see that you have no need to be worried.”  
Storm considered this a moment. The tabby was large and undoubtedly an excellent fighter. That’s really what they needed. This tom also seemed to believe in their cause, which was more than Storm could ask for from most. “Alright,” he finally spoke up. “Help us find one more recruit while we’re out here. Succeed, and we’ll see how you do in the group…” Storm paused, realizing the tabby hadn’t even had time to mention his name.  
“Name’s Toffee,” he purred. “I already know you both. Storm and Mapleclaw, correct?”  
“Tansy,” she hissed involuntarily. “I left my warrior name with my clan.”  
Toffee bowed his head in apology. “Well then, if you need recruits, I might have just the thing for you.” The tom paused and looked between them again as if weighing his options. “He might not be the most agreeable choice, but he’s surely a good one if you need fighters. I’ve run into him once or twice. Little rascal gave me one of these cuts,” he purred and gestured to the myriad of slashes on his side. “Granted, I wasn’t exactly up for beating on such a young scrap.”  
“Young…?” Storm snarled. “How young are we talking?”  
“A little over a year, perhaps, but you have to see him to understand. Kit’s got a fire you don’t often see in cats. Sure makes life a living hell for anyone who crosses into his territory,” Toffee purred as he rose back onto his paws. He flicked his tail for them to follow and headed off towards the twolegplace at a remarkable pace for one so large.  
The journey was long and carried out in silence which gave Storm all too much time to remember the gash in his shoulder which had begun to throb. He just hoped that it wouldn’t get infected for he didn’t doubt that Scrap would let him die if that was the case. Thankfully, however, the rains from last night did not carry into today. Instead, they were greeted by a clear, blue sky and damp grass to dash through. For once, they even skirted the edge of Shadowclan territory, not willing to risk a conflict so soon after their last fight.  
Finally, the same twoleg structures came into view, along with the fine wooden fences that blocked off their territory. Toffee went along more frantically as they reached this area and his calm demeanor was replaced by one of frantic glances and dashes. Only once they’d reached a large expanse of trees and grass did they finally slow. “This is the park,” Toffee explained. “Twoleg dogs sometimes come by here, but we should be safe.”  
“And the tom will be here…?” Tansy requested suspiciously as she looked about the area. Every fur on her back stood on end and she walked along on the tips of her toes, ready to dash at a moment’s notice. Storm didn’t blame her. Growing up in a clan, the she-cat hadn’t become accustomed to the twolegplace and the constant roar of monsters on the thunderpath and the thick stenches that came with twolegs.  
Thankfully, Toffee led them deeper into the bushes and trees, ignoring the question for moment. His ears remained pricked to any slight sounds as he eventually stopped and looked about them.  
“He should be…” Toffee growled and sniffed the air.  
The words had barely escaped the tabby’s mouth when there was a flash of white and a tom suddenly crashed into Tansy. She yowled and flopped over, clawing, but the tom had already darted off. Storm spun around to intercept him, but the tom was quick and had already vanished from view. A rustling overhead alerted Storm a second too late. He raised his eyes to see the tom had already managed to clamber up into a tree and crash down upon Toffee’s back. The giant tabby bucked in surprise and quickly rolled, but the tom was gone again.  
Instead, he crashed headfirst into Storm who stumbled, surprised by such an aggressive assault. He lashed out and managed to snag the tom’s thick, white fur before the young cat twisted about and bounced over Tansy, nearly causing Storm to crash straight into her. “Get off my territory!” The tom barked as he rushed forward again to nip at Toffee’s hindquarters.  
This time, however, the large tabby was ready and whirled around in one carefully aimed bound. With his paws outstretched, he snagged the white tom and slammed him into the grass. The two struggled as the younger tried to wiggle away, but Toffee apparently had an iron grip as the small, white cat could do nothing to escape Toffee’s grasp.  
“So, this is him…?” Tansy spat as they both turned to look at the hissing ball of white rage that was their supposed recruit.  
“Get off of me!” The tom yowled as he tried to kick and claw at Toffee’s stomach. All at once, the tabby released the young tom. The white ball of fluff shot to his paws and whirled about to face them all.  
With his white fur standing on end, the tom almost looked as large as Tansy. Storm realized now that his pelt was not perfectly white. One paw was grey as was the tip of his bushy tail. His eyes were equally mismatched with the right being blue while the left was green. Around his neck hung a fancy, blue collar that had long since been worn down and made rugged by time.  
“We don’t want a fight. We just want to talk,” Toffee grunted as the tom eyed them all with a lashing tail.  
“I’m sure. That’s why you came onto my territory looking for me,” the tom spat vehemently. His eyes flickered between them rapidly as if sizing up which one he most wanted to attack next.  
Storm decided he might as well try his best with this tom, but he seemed too fiery to be of much use to them. “Easy. We just want to talk. Where’d a young kittypet like you learn to fight like that?”  
“I’m not a kittypet!” The tom spat, only seeming to grow angrier as he arched his back.   
Tansy burst into a fit of laughter. “You’re not? That collar around your neck says otherwise, Kit! Where’s your twoleg? Let you explore the territory a little bit? Let you pick a couple fights with your fat, spoiled neighbors?”  
The white tom lunged, but Tansy had the advantage now. He was riled and easy to dodge. However, the tom didn’t seem dissuaded as he turned about to slash at her. Tansy’s eyes narrowed and she slipped about quickly, snatching the tom’s hindleg in her jaws and yanking violently to knock him off his paws. She was at the tom’s throat before he could move. “I could kill you, you little prick, so mind your manners.”  
The tom stiffened, but the fire in his eyes didn’t die. Thankfully, that seemed to stop his fighting and Tansy quickly pulled away. “I don’t think he’s worth it, Storm. He has no respect and he’s too foolhardy. He’ll die before he’s ever useful.”  
Storm watched the tom hop back to his paws and snarl. He couldn’t help silently agreeing. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Toffee, but this tom won’t fit. We need someone willing to listen, not just fight.”  
Toffee nodded politely. “That’s alright. There’s other cats I have in mind if he won’t work.” He sighed and turned to lead them off. “I’ll introduce you to Ratter-“  
“Wait! That’s it!?” The tom called, interrupting them all.  
All three cats turned back to the white tom. He was sitting now, all semblance of hostility lost as his head tilted to one side. “If you need fighters, I can fight! I’m a great fighter! You saw me there! If I had more time to plan, I could have taken on all three of you!” The tom declared hurriedly.  
“We don’t need you running off into danger every five seconds, Kit,” Storm growled. “Just… stay here in your nice little park or go back to your twoleg or whatever. We don’t need you.” They turned to leave again, but the tom dashed around to block their path with wide eyes.  
“Please! Let me prove myself! You’ll see that I can do whatever you need! I can fight or I can listen or whatever. Whatever you need help with, I can do it.”  
“Kit, we’re fighting to destroy the clans,” Tansy laughed. “That’s not exactly something you can just hop in on and expect to be useful.”  
Her words triggered something in the tom. His eyes narrowed and he straightened up. “You’re fighting the clans?”   
“Yeah, Kit. We’re going to drive them out of the forest so that rogues finally have a place to stay. Surely you’ve heard about us?” Storm requested in exasperation. He was really quite done with this kit playing at heroics, but something about him was beginning to intrigue him. There was rage contorted within the tom’s frown now. That could be useful.  
“If you’re fighting the clans, I want in,” the tom growled fiercely. “Trust me, I can help. I know a decent amount about the clans.”  
“Have a grudge, do you?” Tansy mused, a slight purr rising in her voice as she too, noticed the tom’s anger.  
The tom’s ears flattened. “Perhaps. What does it matter to you all?”  
Storm finally sat, figuring he’d take a chance with this kit. If they could drive his anger towards the clans, he could surely be a force to be feared. He was so young and yet he could already hold his own quite well in a fight. If they could harness that… “We need to know that you’ll stick with us and our cause if times get rough. I need loyal cats who’ll fight to the end. Not cowards or conflicted souls,” Storm explained.  
Do I count as a conflicted soul?  
“I can do that!” The tom declared.   
Tansy watched him in amusement, though her eyes kept lingering on the collar. “Some warrior beat you up when you wandered off from your twoleg?”  
“For the last time, I’m not a kittypet! And no… it’s personal… just drop it… alright!?” The tom snapped, growing increasingly flustered. His ear twitched and his fur bristled with every word they spoke.  
“Answer our questions or we’re leaving!” Tansy spat back.  
The tom hesitated and looked to his paws a moment. “I don’t live with twolegs-“  
“Then why do you have a collar? Only kittypets have collars,” Tansy prodded almost playfully, though her eyes were narrowed with a cunning knowledge.  
The tom pinned his ears and quickly reached up a paw and snagged it in the collar. He tugged several times until there was a snap and the collar came loose and flopped to the ground. For just a second, the tom watched the collar with wide, mournful eyes before he shook his head and raised his gaze to everyone gathered. “Not. A. Kittypet.” He iterated fiercely.   
“Could have fooled me,” Toffee purred in amusement.  
“And what about the clans? What do you have against them?” Tansy cooed.  
The tom paused and turned his attention back to his collar which he pawed at gingerly. “I… I have family there, okay? And my father’s kind of a big fucking dick who deserves whatever’s coming for him. Him and everyone he cares about,” the tom almost shouted in his rising anger. He met Storm’s gaze and Storm almost shuddered at the fierce energy rippling beneath that white pelt.  
Just what we need.  
Tansy, however, looked uncertain. She turned to Storm, but said nothing. “We’ll see how you do, Kit.” Storm decided finally and rose to his paws. “Now let’s go. We have other places to be. We’ve wasted enough time here.”  
“My name’s Flint!” The young tom called as Storm turned and led the way back down the road and away from twolegs. He paused as he waited for the others to follow.  
Tansy readily joined, but Toffee hung back a moment and gently nudged the collar back towards Flint. “If it means so much to you, why’d you take it off?”  
“It means nothing to me, alright!?” Flint spat. “I’m not a kittypet!” And with that, the tom loped off to join Storm and Tansy. Toffee lingered a moment longer, his gaze rested on the collar before he too rose and followed them back out of the twolegplace.


	9. The Halfbreed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while, but I'm back and hopefully on schedule! Will try to release a SECOND chapter this week!

Blackstar found himself in the same cold darkness he’d grown so familiar with in his dreams. He sat on the same black, colorless rock as he looked over a land devoid of trees, sunlight, stars or moon. The land was endless and black as night and to breathe in was to feel like the air itself was being strangled from his lungs.  
Everything was silent, deathly so and each pawstep Blackstar took echoed like thunder across the black world, slowly morphing into words that repeated in Blackstar’s mind. In some ways, it felt like his conscience and in other ways it felt like all of his fears come to life.  
One day you will lead, but you will never be leader. And the land on which you tread will turn as black as your paws.  
“Well, I’m leader now!” Blackstar called into the voice, but the words just echoed back at him.   
You will never be leader.  
Blackstar looked about the dark world and pinned his ears, determined to find a way out of this darkness that had haunted him since he was an apprentice. “Then what makes a leader!? How do I become one!? What do I have to do!?” He cried out, but the darkness swallowed his words and all echoing ceased as he raced along, his pawsteps falling silently upon the black ground. On and on he went, shouting into the void, desperately searching for answers beyond the dull echo of those cursed words Smallfoot had told him so long ago.  
And then the world seemed to turn upside down like Blackstar’s moss nest had been violently pulled from beneath him and he fell upwards into the endless expanse of darkness above while the black ground below faded away.  
He violently crashed against the ground, or was it the ceiling, sprawled out on his back with his blue eyes still locked on the now faraway expanse he had just been walking. The tom reluctantly rolled onto his back paws and looked around at where he was now, astonished to see trees jutting up into the same dark expanse he had grown so familiar with. However, all the trees were dead and dry leaves crunched under his paws with every step, making him long for the silence of his dark prison.  
From the shadows, Blackstar spotted a flicker of movement as something pushed its way through the dense shrubbery and padded forward. The shape was as black as the expanse Blackstar had always known, but it had eyes of the purest, icy blue that shone in the darkness, casting the entire, dull world in a haze of blue light.  
Blackstar stiffened, recognizing the eyes he so often stared into in his own reflection and hurriedly stepping back as the black cat approached, his blue eyes never leaving Blackstar’s identical ones.  
“You become a leader by showing your strength. Prove the power of your clan and prove the power of your half blood,” the black tom spoke up with a voice like the softest nest, soothing and yet somehow terrifying. Inside the words was warmth, but behind that warmth were claws, poised and ready to strike at the heart the moment it exposed itself to the voice’s kind coercions. The tom purred, his blue eyes shining compassionately.  
“No,” Blackstar hissed. “Leadership isn’t in strength… it’s…” he fumbled, thinking back on Birchstar and everything that the tom had stood for. “It’s… not you…” the white tom forced as he stared into the calm, blue eyes.  
Suddenly, however, he could retreat no further as the black of his paws seemed to melt into the black ground, blending together and pinning him to the spot as the tom advanced and pressed his nose to Blackstar’s while never blinking or looking away from Blackstar’s own blue eyes. “Black is who you are. Don’t deny it.”  
Blackstar violently threw himself forward and was shocked when his head crashed into the wall of his den and his blue eyes shot open. The dream melted away into memory and he was greeted by the warm smells of camp and the comforting familiarity of the leader’s den.   
Judging by the lack of light, the sun had yet to rise and yet, here Blackstar was, awake and unable to sleep with his dream haunting his thoughts. The leader growled and shook his head a little before he pressed his way through the roots that protected his den entrance and out into the chilly, morning air.   
What is a leader?  
The query came back to the tom and hung in his mind as he bounded over to the freshkill pile to check what remained. Just enough to feed the dawn patrol when they awoke. Good. Shadowclan had to take full advantage of the prey while it was still plentiful, especially with the threat of Storm looming over them all.  
The Shadowclan leader turned to return to his den, but paused when he noticed a few fresh scents in the camp. The scent of Smallfoot, Deerpaw, and Viperpaw hung strongly in the clearing, their scents weaving along the well-worn path to the camp entrance and out into the early morning.  
That’s strange. They ought not to be out so early with rogues milling about…  
In an instant, Blackstar determined to follow them and bounded along on their trail. Perhaps Smallfoot was just taking Viperpaw out for a walk, which was curious enough. Blackstar had been almost convinced he’d never see Viperpaw walk again or even leave the den.  
The trail weaved into the dense undergrowth and trees, down a well-trodden path the warriors sometimes used to get to a nearby stream. Sure enough, Blackstar could hear the soft sound of Smallfoot’s voice as he neared the stream. He paused within the shadows of a bush and listened to them talk.  
“See?” The tom was insisting in the gentlest tone Blackstar had ever heard him use. “The world still has its colors. Just wait until you see the sunrise. Things may seem bleak, but there is always color to be found.”  
“But I saw him die… that tom… he took all of Birchstar’s lives. Why would Starclan allow something like that to happen!?” Viperpaw’s small voice demanded. She sounded desperate, pleading as she spoke as if every word had to be delivered before she, too, was taken away for good.  
“Starclan always has a plan.” Deerpaw was speaking now. Blackstar heard the she-cat shift closer and heard the soft rustle of their pelts brushing. “Maybe Blackstar is what we need, now. Maybe he’s better fit to lead in this time than Birchstar was…”  
Blackstar heard a sniffle, then, probably from Viperpaw. “But why couldn’t Birchstar retire? Why would he have to die? It’s cruel. Why would that be what Starclan wants? I thought you all could read the stars.”  
All cats fell quiet then. Blackstar felt his chest tighten into a knot as he waited for them to answer. “You’re right,” Smallfoot finally said after a pause that lasted far too long. “And this is Starclan’s plan. Believe me when I say that, Viperpaw. They would never forsake this clan.”  
Silence fell again as Blackstar heard the cats shuffle and reposition once more. The first rays of sun were beginning to peak over the tops of the trees and Blackstar knew, where the medicine cats were sitting, the pink of the sky would be reflected on the water until it looked like the sky had been captured in the narrow stream. There was a slight, delighted gasp as pink and orange and red danced across the morning sky.  
Blackstar purred to himself and turned to return to the camp when he heard Smallfoot speak up again. “Alright. You two head back to the camp, now. We’ll go out for herbs later. I need some time to sit in silence before everything goes back to chaos,” the medicine cat declared.  
The sound of shuffling resumed and Blackstar ducked deeper into the bushes as Deerpaw led Viperpaw away from the stream, the latter pressed against her sister for support as her poor leg could not support her weight. Once their tails disappeared into the foliage, Blackstar heard another rustle and then Smallfoot’s small, scrunched face appeared between two bushes. Blackstar nearly jumped out of his skin as the wise old tom’s yellow eyes stared back at him.  
“I believe it’s about time we stop avoiding the issue and have a very serious discussion, don’t you?” The medicine cat grunted, completely ignoring Blackstar’s fright as he ducked back through the bushes to return to his spot beside the stream.  
Blackstar slowly joined the small tom and sat down beside him next to the water’s edge. They both idly watched a log drift down the steadily flowing water, waiting for the other to break the silence.  
“Why?” The medicine cat finally requested, his eyes turning to Blackstar. For once, he did not look angry. Instead, his mouth was contorted into an ugly frown while his brows were arched with concern. “Why are you doing this?”  
Blackstar hesitated and turned his gaze to the water. He wouldn’t dare speak his secrets allowed, even when they were confronted and only took in a deep breath, willing himself to stare into his own reflection and fight the shudder as he looked into those same blue eyes.  
“The clan needs stability, Smallfoot. I can’t risk a panic, not right now when everyone needs to band together. Storm is the enemy and we can address this once he has been dealt with. Until then, we have more important things to care about.”  
“Maybe the safety of the clan is dependent upon this?” Smallfoot objected, his voice even despite the growing fire in his eyes. “Maybe you are simply a coward? Have you ever thought about that!? Unwilling to admit your faults to the world!”  
Blackstar flattened his ears and looked away from his reflection and Smallfoot’s harsh gaze. “It’s too late now, Smallfoot. You’ve seen the way they look at me. The clan trusts me, despite everything! I’m not willing to let them down.”  
No response came and Blackstar whirled about to see Smallfoot looking intently at the leader’s black paws. Finally, his yellow eyes raised to Blackstar’s blue ones as he continued to speak. “I know you mean well… and surely, Starclan has a plan for this, but I don’t like it, Blackstar. They haven’t spoken to me since you became leader. I don’t see signs, I don’t have dreams. Everything is just… darkness…”  
A chill ran along Blackstar’s spine as he recalled his dream. “Deerpaw too?”  
The medicine cat slowly nodded. “Surely, they would have told me something about you, but all I have to go by is that prophecy from long ago.” Blackstar’s ear twitched and Smallfoot’s eyes instantly caught the movement despite Blackstar’s best attempts. “Blackstar, why don’t you believe?”  
Blackstar finally found the strength to meet the medicine cat’s eyes, trying to think of the words to explain himself. “I know they exist for they give leader’s their nine lives… but I want nothing to do with spirits such as they.”  
“Why?” Smallfoot’s eyes went wide. “Starclan supplies us with all we have. They taught us to heal, they visit us in our darkest hours. Our loved ones visit us in our dreams-“  
“Oh really!?” Blackstar spat, unable to hold in the venomous fury that had slowly been boiling up in his chest. “Your loved ones greet you, do they? That’s nice. Tell me, why don’t I ever meet my dead mother, hm? Why doesn’t Birchstar come to me and offer his wisdom?”  
“They don’t show themselves to everyone-“  
“Why not!? What benevolent spirit would refuse to visit their kin? Why do so many kits lose their mothers and never see them again? What about cats who lose their brothers, fathers, sisters? What about close friends lost in battle? What happens to them? If Starclan is so mighty and gracious, why don’t they show themselves to their loved ones, but simply whisper their secrets to a couple delusional cats who think an owl swooping over them is an ill omen, but for some odd reason I’m a curse upon the clan!?  
“What did I do as an apprentice? What could I have possibly done for Starclan to send a fucking prophecy from the skies about how bad I would be!?” Blackstar spat as he rose to his full height and looked down upon the small medicine cat with his twisted front foot.  
“If Starclan is so great, why don’t cats outside the clans get shown the same decency clan cats do? What happens to kittypets when they die? What happens to cats bred outside the warrior code? What happens to my brothers and sisters? What happens to my son?” Blackstar almost choked on his words and turned his gaze away once more to look at his own reflection.  
“If Starclan is worth believing in, why do cats like Thistlestar get to live out their nine lives while Birchstar had three of his ripped from him by a single, spiteful rogue. What sort of all-knowing spirits would allow that to happen?”  
The whole while, Smallfoot watched Blackstar and listened to his fury without shrinking back or batting an eye. Instead, he inched forward and gently pressed his nose into the white fur of Blackstar’s neck. “They always have a reason,” he coaxed gently.   
“Or maybe you make signs out of nothing. Maybe the warrior code was just a set of laws created by a sadist like Thistleclaw. Maybe Starclan doesn’t give a shit,” Blackstar murmured through gritted teeth, but allowed his anger to slowly melt away.  
Smallfoot watched Blackstar as the leader rose to his paws. The tom remained still, however, and cast his gaze back onto his paws. “Your secret is safe with me, Blackstar, but reconsider. I beg of you, for the sake of the clan. If we face Starclan’s wrath because of your refusal to accept them, you are dooming all of us.”  
“Maybe I’m saving us from hypocrisy that must end,” Blackstar hissed sharply before padding off back to the camp. His tail lashed across the bramble thickets and it was all he could do to flatten his ruffled fur and try to resume some semblance of calm before other clan cats saw him like this.  
Blackstar had barely made it through the thorn bush into camp when Nightpelt, a Shadowclan warrior, came bounding up to him. “Blackstar, may we speak privately?” The she-cat purred, locking her green eyes with Blackstar’s own for a moment as she brushed her black tail underneath his chin. “I have news that you will want to hear.”  
“News…?” Blackstar paused, uncertain what sort of news Nightpelt could possibly know that he didn’t. “What sort of news?”  
Nightpelt gestured with her muzzle to the sky and Blackstar felt his heart sink. The she-cat had been a medicine cat apprentice in her youth before she turned from those duties to the life of a warrior. She had always been particularly gifted in communicating with Starclan, so Smallfoot had always said, but the life of nurturing had never truly suited the she-cat’s fire.  
“Privately,” Nightpelt emphasized again before flicking her tail and bounding off to Blackstar’s den.  
Blackstar heaved a sigh, not the biggest fan of her calling the shots, but he figured this must be quite important if she was coming to him before Smallfoot. “Alright, alright,” he growled and bounded ahead to lead her into the den because, as petty as it was, he refused to be escorted into his own den even if it still felt foreign to him.  
The white tom claimed his usual spot in his soft nest of moss while Nightpelt sat near the entrance where the roots were thickest and blocked out almost all light, casting her black pelt in further shadow so that her green eyes glowed more brilliantly than anything else. “As you might have guessed, I had a vision,” the she-cat began in a voice like honey.   
Nightpelt had a way with soothing anyone into a dream-like trance. It’d been remarkably effective during her flirtation with medicine and proved even more useful for persuasion. Whenever Birchstar had needed to get a clan on his good side, he’d been wise to send the sweet-talking Nightpelt to help ease tensions ahead of time.  
“And?” Blackstar’s ear twitched again. He’d had quite enough of these cats and their visions. He didn’t go about declaring that his dreams in the endless void were meaningful. He never claimed that the black cat of his dreams was from Starclan, sending him messages.   
The black she-cat looked Blackstar over and purred in amusement. “You’re frustrated? What happened? Did Smallfoot chew you out? I’ve seen him eyeing you oddly ever since you returned from the Moonstone. Is there something you’re not telling the clan?”  
Blackstar’s blue eyes narrowed to slits and his tail lashed slightly, but he did his best to not be troubled by Nightpelt’s idle taunting. “Well, what is this message you received? I have other matters to tend to, you know, and I’m not one to sit around and gossip.”  
“Of course, you’re not,” Nightpelt purred. “You like to get things done. You like physical results. Things you can see, so I’ll make this short and sweet.” Blackstar didn’t like the way the she-cat emphasized physical, ensuring she drew it out for much longer than any other word.  
“Starclan has decided it’s time for the clans to end.”  
It suddenly felt like Blackstar had been thrown back into one of his dreams or some peculiar, alternate reality. It felt almost like the world had simply stopped working as it should and he took a moment to take in those words. “You’re joking.”  
“No,” Nightpelt responded. Her eyes lost all humor and her face was stern, almost grave. “Our time has come.”  
If that was the case, Blackstar could see why Starclan would stop talking with the medicine cats, but surely that couldn’t be true? It couldn’t be any truer than any other visions and prophecies. It was just cats with over-active imaginations who had spent too many hours bent over strong smelling herbs to the point it gnawed away at their minds. “Have you told Smallfoot?” Blackstar forced himself to ask, though all his initial apprehension had already melted away. This meant nothing, just like the prophecy about himself.  
They all mean nothing. They’re simply words.  
“You don’t believe me, do you?” Nightpelt purred. “I heard it from Thistlestar himself. He came to me last night and told me of Starclan’s master plan.” Blackstar stiffened instinctively. Blue eyes. Black fur. Nightpelt’s eyes noticed all, but she continued as if nothing had happened. “The clans will end and Storm is the tool with which the end will be brought about.” Her voice seemed to grow darker and almost echo around the den like a thousand separate voices calling to Blackstar from the void. “You can either die with the clans, Blackstar, or rise above and help bring about their end.”  
Blackstar couldn’t help, but to snort. Betray his clan and everything he’d always stood for on the words of some psychotic she-cat? The herbs must have done a number on her mind after all.  
“It makes sense, doesn’t it?” Nightpelt coaxed. “If Starclan is as cruel as you seem to think, wouldn’t they want to end it all? And wouldn’t you want to help? Disband their broken code, disband their broken clans and their foolish rituals? What new and beautiful thing could be built in the ashes? You could help Storm, help bring about the end as Starclan wants…”  
Blackstar realized how close the she-cat had gotten, perched at his side with her warm breath rustling his ear hairs, her sweet scent wafting about him as her beautiful, black fur brushed against his side. He recoiled instinctively, resisting the urge to strike her with a paw as a growl rose in his chest. “I don’t give a shit what Starclan wants. If they try to touch any of my clan members again, through Storm or otherwise, I’ll do everything in my power to stop them.”  
Nightpelt stepped back about a mouse length and looked Blackstar over. “Then you will die with them and, over your corpse, Starclan will end the clans forever.”  
Blackstar pinned his ears back and stretched up to his full size again as he watched Nightpelt. “Do not speak of this again,” he growled. “There will be no end to the clans and there will be no help for Storm. He killed our leader and for that he will suffer. If you dare help him… if you dare turn others to the cause of that murderer, I will end you.”  
The she-cat bowed her head respectfully and turned away from Blackstar with her tail low. She padded off, but stopped in the entrance, her black form casting a shadow over Blackstar and the rest of the den. “You sound so much like him.” She commented with a small smile and was gone.


	10. The Strays

It had been over a week since Copperblaze fell to the rogue and everything had resumed a feigned sense of normalcy. The clan went on as they had to, but Stonepaw could feel the grief hanging in the air as tangible as the scent of sickness and just as far-reaching. He joined Springstar in the early morning for a dawn patrol and was relatively alarmed to not see that same fire burning within her eyes. Instead, she seemed subdued, almost distracted. She made mistakes, fumbled, grew nervous, and, for the first time, Stonepaw remembered just how young his mentor and leader really was.  
She tried to hide this, of course, as everyone did. When she caught Stonepaw staring, she’d summon a smile and gently smack him with her tail before plodding ahead. She would never let her weakness show, but Stonepaw wanted nothing more than to help his mentor. Sadly, that was something he couldn’t ever do. He was left to watch from the outside for the off chance she might come to him, but he knew that was a fool’s dream.  
The whole clan felt Copperblaze’s death. It felt wrong to eat outside the apprentice’s den now as Stonepaw could only recall that night they’d spent, curled up together while he spun them tales of days long past. It was harder still to look into the eyes of the apprentice’s den’s newest arrivals. Owlpaw put up a brave face and would scuff and play with Dawnpaw every chance he got, but Stonepaw would lay up in his nest at night as he heard Owlpaw and Leafpaw quietly sobbing together.   
In fact, Stonepaw couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept. Each time the young apprentices would have one of their fits, a bad dream or whatever it might be, Stonepaw would quietly curl about them both and try to offer some comfort until they were soothed to sleep. He, however, could not find sleep in the darkness of that den, wrapped tightly about two apprentices who had seen the corpse of their father dragged into camp.   
It seemed like Storm would be hiding in every shadow, now. Stonepaw could barely go on patrol without jumping as a pigeon fluttered into the air or crouching back when a mouse scuttled across his path. Springstar assured him that it would pass. “Death feels different when you know they were killed,” she advised softly. Stonepaw had known plenty of death, sure. His littermates, mother, and father had all been taken by a bout of greencough, but he could not deny… this… this felt different.  
By the time the patrol returned to camp, Stonepaw felt dead on his feet. He couldn’t even recall a single place they’d patrolled, couldn’t recall if he’d eaten, and couldn’t recall who else had been on the patrol. Instead, he stumbled back to the apprentice’s den as if half-dead and gratefully flopped down into the soft moss beside Dawnpaw’s warm, sleeping form.  
She was curled into a tight ball and pressed close to him as Stonepaw laid down. Stonepaw knew she, too, was struggling, but knew it was best not to ask her about it for fear of getting his head chewed off. The small, brown tom was about to close his eyes and drift off into fitful sleep when he noticed that the other nest beside him was empty. Cinderpaw was out.  
That seemed odd, for some peculiar reason, but Stonepaw couldn’t place it in his exhausted state as he curled up with his nose carefully tucked underneath his tail. However, before his eyes could shut and allow him some much-needed relief, he remembered why that was wrong. Cinderpaw was being punished. He wasn’t permitted to leave the camp as retribution for him deliberately disobeying both Ashfall and Springstar. And yet, Stonepaw hadn’t seen him about camp.  
He probably just went to get a drink of water, Stonepaw. It’s not your problem. The young tom promised himself, but now he was curious and, more importantly, he was worried for his friend. If Cinderpaw had snuck out as he’d been known to do before, Storm was out there… what if Cinderpaw was killed too? Stonepaw wasn’t sure Ashfall’s heart could take it.  
Stonepaw growled and slowly hauled himself back to his paws. Beside him, Dawnpaw mumbled something unintelligible and slowly stretched out, claiming both their nests as her paws reached out with claws unsheathed. He idly sniffed the air to catch Cinderpaw’s scent and followed it out of the den and along the reed walls of the camp until Stonepaw reached a weaker point that a small cat could easily squeeze through. Sure enough, it reeked of Cinderpaw’s scent, both new and old.  
The apprentice grumbled, willing his tired legs to carry him through the hole and out into the blazing light of the morning. He wasn’t even sure he had the strength to wade the river as he splashed into it and crawled onto the shore of the other side. Stonepaw’s legs dragged and his eyes drooped, begging for sleep, but he had to make certain that Cinderpaw was alright.  
Cinderpaw’s trail led through the trees, weaving and winding down paths not well worn by warrior’s paws. Undoubtedly, the apprentice wanted to find some place where a patrol was unlikely to stumble across him. The undergrowth was so thick here and the hill so steep that Stonepaw didn’t blame cats for not usually coming by. In fact, he couldn’t even catch a trace of Riverclan here except for Cinderpaw’s own scent.  
At the crest of the hill, Stonepaw took a moment to stop and catch his breath.   
Cinderpaw, why are you doing this to me???  
It was only now that Stonepaw realized that he, too, was technically not allowed to leave camp alone. All apprentices were supposed to be supervised and yet he was going on a sacrificial mission to find Cinderpaw who probably wasn’t even in danger. With this in mind, Stonepaw glanced back down the hill, considering abandoning his quest when he heard the sound of scuffling up ahead. Stonepaw stiffened, expecting the worst as he crept towards the edge of the bushes and peered out to see what had caused the noise.  
Thankfully, he saw a flash of a white pelt and a skinny, brown tail stuck straight up into the air as Cinderpaw held a vole between his jaws. His blue eyes glimmered joyfully as he set down the prey, but nearly jumped out of his skin as he noticed Stonepaw’s yellow eyes watching him. “Stonepaw!” He squeaked as he jumped a good foxlength into the air.  
Stonepaw couldn’t help a slight laugh. “You didn’t hear me coming?” He requested with an amused purr as Cinderpaw flopped back down onto all fours and pinned his ears back.  
“No,” the older tom mumbled irritably. “I was busy hunting.” Cinderpaw turned his blue eyes back to the vole and heaved a sigh. “I’m getting better! It doesn’t help that I can’t actually practice when I’m stuck at the camp all day. How am I supposed to prove myself if I can never learn how to be a real warrior?”  
“You’ll be stuck in the camp even longer if you never listen to instruction,” Stonepaw advised as he stepped forward to playfully lick the smaller tom’s ear. “Listening to your elders is just as much a part of the warrior code as fighting and hunting.”  
“Yeah, well I can never get good at any of those!” Cinderpaw objected. “Dawnpaw’s always just going to think of me as some stupid kittypet and Shadowfrost will keep up his taunts,” the tom continued, his lip curling back slightly into a snarl before he hesitated and finally took a moment to look at Stonepaw. “I’m sorry… I’m blabbing on and you… you look tired. Are you okay?”  
Stonepaw hesitated and looked over his friend, considering what all to tell him. “I just… haven’t been sleeping well, you know?”  
“Copperblaze.” It was the only name that needed saying and both fell into silence. Though Cinderpaw had only known the tom a couple moons, his eyes widened into deep, blue pools of grief as he kept his eyes locked with Stonepaw’s. “Will you be okay?” The tom requested unexpectedly.  
“Of course, I will be,” Stonepaw shrugged it off, unwilling to let the tom know just how much it all hurt. “We got to keep moving on…”  
Cinderpaw’s eyes suddenly glistened and his mouth curled into a toothy grin. “I know just the thing to help with that!” He declared as he scraped some dirt over his freshly killed vole. “Come on! Let’s work on some hunting. You can give me tips and we can bring back more prey than any apprentices ever have before us!”  
“We aren’t even supposed to be out here,” Stonepaw hesitated and glanced back towards the camp. “What will they say when we come back carrying prey? What if we run into Storm?”  
“We won’t! I don’t smell him anywhere!” Cinderpaw assured and Stonepaw wasn’t going to be the one to point out that the apprentice wasn’t exactly renowned for an acute sense of smell. “And how can they be mad at us if we bring back a whole load of prey? We’ll hunt so well that they won’t have any choice, but to praise us!”  
“That’s not how this works-“ Stonepaw began to object, but Cinderpaw seemed so hopeful and Stonepaw couldn’t deny that the clan could use more prey. The grieving process had meant fewer hunting patrols and fewer pickings for everyone. Not that that was a bad thing. Most of the cats didn’t seem to have the appetite, anyway.  
“Maybe some normalcy will help lift cats’ spirits?” Cinderpaw tried with a smile. “And we can bring the biggest, juiciest morsels for Ashfall and Springstar!”  
Stonepaw smiled at the thought of offering his mentor some delicious freshkill. Maybe it would lift her spirits a little. “Alright, alright. But we’ve got to make this catch, really, really good if we want to avoid getting yelled out,” he relented with a slight purr.  
Cinderpaw’s blue eyes sparkled like a thousand stars. “Follow me this way! There’s a lot of prey here because the undergrowth is thick which makes it hard for cats to hunt. But they’re fatter here and dumber so we might have a fighting chance!” The tom hissed excitedly and ducked off into even thicker undergrowth with nettles that tugged at his thin fur as he passed.  
Stonepaw took a moment to breathe. He was still tired, but the thought of bringing a little happiness to the clan helped soothe his weary muscles. The brown cat summoned what strength he had left in him and bounded off after his friend to make the greatest catches the clan had ever seen.

By the end of their hunting, the two toms had collected three mice, one vole, a thrush, and four small fish. Cinderpaw’s eyes glistened with joy as he’d managed to make a lot of the catches and was unable to hide the pride from his confident strut as the fish dangled from his jaws, swinging slightly with every pawstep.  
He’ll make a good warrior someday. Stonepaw decided with a purr as he held his own head a little higher to keep the mice from dragging across the ground. They’d have to go back to get the thrush and vole. Cinderpaw seemed to be having enough trouble carrying the fish, but he’d been so insistent on bringing back all of them. He probably wanted to prove that he could be a Riverclan cat after all.  
Camp was still fairly quiet when they returned. Snowstorm and Springstar were resting out on the sunning stones, the latter gently rasping her tongue over the length of her mate’s gorgeous white fur while Snowstorm purred and held her close. Crowflight, Badgerfoot, and her brother Stormfly sat by the freshkill pile, deep in some sort of debate.  
The small, black tom looked so miniscule beside Badgerfoot and Stormfly. Badgerfoot was enormous, with massive, furry paws and a thick coat of black and white fur. A white stripe stretched across her back from nose to tailtip, granting her the apt name of “badger”. Her brother, however, was a brilliant silver tabby with glistening fur and blue eyes to compliment her yellow ones. Both had long legs and square frames with short nubs instead of tails. Stonepaw had always thought they looked quite peculiar, especially for Riverclan cats, but he’d never thought to ask how such oddities made it into the clan.  
Two sets of blue eyes and one set of yellow turned to the two apprentices as they returned with their load and dropped the prey onto the pile which lay between the warriors’ paws. “That’s an impressive catch,” Crowflight praised first with an easy grin. Cinderpaw brightened incredibly and offered a smile.  
“Really?”  
Badgerfoot purred and offered a brisk nod as she glanced to Stormfly for agreement. “I’ve never even caught that much and I’ve been around much longer than you two,” she declared with a purr.  
“I was lucky if I caught a mouse whenever I went out hunting,” Stormfly concurred in a deep, rumbling voice that reminded Stonepaw of Ashfall’s booming tone.  
Stonepaw couldn’t believe it. They hadn’t been scolded or even questioned. The prey had just been welcomed! Crowflight obviously noticed his disbelief and offered a purr as he craned his neck forward to rub his cheek against the smaller apprentice’s. “Nothing happened, right? And you all caught us some delectable prey! What more could we ask for? The clan could use a pick-me-up!” The black tom assured as his deep blue eyes sparkled playfully. “And don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone who doesn’t need to know,” he smiled.  
“But Ashfall should know!” Cinderpaw objected. “I have to prove that I can hunt… like a true warrior.”  
All three warriors scoffed. “I’d make you a warrior in a heartbeat.” Stormfly vowed.  
“You’re a clancat in my eyes,” Badgerfoot affirmed.  
“And no one in the world can ever tell you any different, got it?” Crowflight added more sternly as his blue eyes met Cinderpaw’s. “You belong here and you don’t ever have to prove that fact. You’re a Riverclan cat, through and through.”  
Stonepaw purred and pressed his brown pelt against Cinderpaw’s thin flank as the apprentice beamed up at Crowflight. The old tom was one of the oldest warriors in the entire clan and praise from him meant a great deal.  
“What’s going on here, then?” It was Shadowfrost’s cold, frustrated tone that caused both apprentices to whirl around and find those amber eyes blazing as they looked between Cinderpaw and Stonepaw with furious intensity. He’d lost weight since the attack and he still proved unsteady on his paws. He had a new, fresh wound that had taken much of the fur from his neck, but he still was a fearsome sight with his broad, black shoulders and flaming eyes. His claws always seemed unsheathed and his hackles always raised slightly as if in a silent challenge to the world at large.  
“Caught some freshkill, did you? That’s excellent,” the tom purred in a tone that said he thought the exact opposite. His whiskers twitched with endless amusement as he moved over and sniffed at their catch. “You know, I don’t smell any warrior scents here. You… you didn’t disobey direct orders from Springstar again, did you, Kittypet?” The tom’s eyes flashed towards Cinderpaw.  
Stonepaw instantly stood between the two cats and fluffed up slightly as he tried to be brave in the face of one of his greatest fears. “Listen here,” he growled, but his voice sounded more like a squeak and Shadowfrost’s expression went from hard to amused.  
“Sorry? What was that, Little One?” Shadowfrost cooed and craned forward as if to allow Stonepaw to whisper in his ear. “I didn’t hear what you said over that little sound you made. A kittypet and a coward. You two make the perfect couple-“  
“That’s enough, Shadowfrost,” Crowflight called from beside the other warriors. “They don’t need your lecturing. They just wanted to help the clan in their time of mourning. Surely you of all cats can appreciate the gesture?”  
Shadowfrost pinned his ears and snorted. “Don’t accuse me of not being devastated,” he spat. Stonepaw didn’t think he sounded devastated and he felt his insides boiling with rage at the thought of this cat being so disrespectful to the tom who’d saved his life.  
Cinderpaw, however, shoved his way forward and forced his face up into Shadowfrost’s. He stood on the tips of his toes and craned his neck to look larger as his eyes burned with that never-ending determination. “At least we can still hunt and fight! I don’t see you doing much right now. Can you stand alright? You look tired. Is it from your wounds or from the guilt at letting Copperblaze die!? Because, if I recall, you’re the only one who fought alongside him back there. How’d you fuck up that bad?”  
Shadowfrost’s lips slowly peeled back from his fangs in a twisted, ugly snarl emphasizing the hideous gashes across the left side of his face and eye. He snapped, actually nicking Cinderpaw’s ear before the apprentice crashed into the warrior with a blood-curdling yowl. Stonepaw froze in place, watching them with wide eyes as claws and fangs lashed out.  
The entire camp fell quiet and all eyes fell upon the black tom squirming about in the grass with Cinderpaw. The fearsome cries from both drowned out the sound of the running river and everything seemed frozen to the spot, watching these two clanmates tear each other apart. And then, the spell was broken and Crowflight and Springstar acted in unison. The leader plucked Cinderpaw up and away from Shadowfrost while Crowflight hurried forward and grasped Shadowfrost’s tail in his jaws.  
They separated the cats in one fluid movement and the clearing fell into an unsteady silence as golden eyes locked with blue in an agreement of pure, unfiltered hatred. “Kittypet trash,” Shadowfrost hissed under his breath. Crowflight lightly nipped his shoulder, but it was already obvious Shadowfrost was not apt to fight again. The tom looked beyond exhausted. His neck had begun bleeding again from a wound that had barely begun to heal and his eyes glazed over with pain he was unable to suppress. Cinderpaw, on the other hand, had a torn ear and a small cut above his eye that had begun to bleed.   
Nightsky and Featherpaw arrived on the scene, the latter carrying a wad of moss almost as big as she was. She honestly looked like a walking moss ball as her little legs darted back and forth to keep up with the gorgeous, black tom. “I told you to take it easy,” Nightsky growled to Shadowfrost as he quickly shepherded him off to the medicine cat den.  
Unfortunately for Cinderpaw, that allowed all attention to turn back to him and Ashfall had finally arrived.  
“Were you two out hunting?” Springstar demanded, her voice still even, but cooler than Stonepaw would have liked. Her golden eyes glanced between the two of them and Stonepaw quickly bowed his head.  
“We wanted to bring something back to lighten the mood,” he insisted.  
“And directly disobey my orders!?” Springstar hissed.  
Stonepaw opened his mouth to speak, but Cinderpaw was quicker and louder as he raised his eyes to meet Springstar’s. Stonepaw couldn’t even fathom how he managed such willpower when he found it hard to even listen to the sharp hint in Springstar’s tone.  
“It was my idea. I made Stonepaw come with me. He said we shouldn’t do it because we ought to follow your orders. I wanted to hunt.” Cinderpaw declared and shot Stonepaw a glare that warned him to keep his mouth shut.  
Stonepaw felt his paws itch with anticipation, desperately wanting to help and speak up, but he held his tongue and allowed Cinderpaw’s words to hang in the air.   
“You’re aware I forbade you from leaving the camp after your last mishap?” Springstar requested gently, but her voice was edged with anger she fought to keep down. “After you foolishly risked your life to follow Ashfall?”  
Cinderpaw returned her gaze and raised his chin in defiance. “I stand by what I did in both circumstances. Yes, I disobeyed your orders and followed Ashfall and the patrol, but I also helped Ashfall escape and saved Shadowfrost’s life in doing so. Yes, I left today, but I brought prey back for the clan and no one was hurt or endangered. Sometimes your orders are foolish and I wouldn’t do anything that would endanger our clan.”  
Close by, Stonepaw saw Ashfall heave a heavy sigh and hang his head in shame.  
Springstar’s eyes blazed and she rose to her full height as she stepped towards Cinderpaw. “Has it ever occurred to you that not following my orders also endangers the clan!? What if something had happened!? What if we were attacked and you were off hunting and we couldn’t find you!? Did you ever think about that? Perhaps you don’t always know what’s best!? Perhaps Ashfall could have managed fine without you? Maybe you were just another thing he had to worry about or maybe you were the reason Copperblaze was forced to linger in the clearing so long!” She snapped.  
Again, silence fell over the clearing. Dovetail came bounding up to her daughter from where she’d been observing everything and began to whisper into Springstar’s ear while everyone else exchanged furtive glances. Cinderpaw, however, remained unmoved despite it all.  
Finally, Dovetail pulled away from her daughter and offered a slight nod before she slipped back into the shadows below the old willow and sat down. Springstar returned her gaze to Cinderpaw and heaved a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for…” she hesitated and watched Cinderpaw with rapidly twitching whiskers that spoke of her internal frustration. “Just this once, Cinderpaw, I will forgive your offense for you meant well, but do not disobey me again. I accepted you into this clan. I did not have to. Don’t make me regret my decision.”  
Cinderpaw’s eyes widened at that. “Please…”  
Springstar didn’t let him finish. “If you and Stonepaw caught anymore prey, you will go out with Ashfall and Willowfur to bring it back and then you will stay in camp unless you are being escorted by a warrior. No exceptions. Are we understood?” She hissed.  
“Yes,” Cinderpaw responded in a smaller voice. He finally lowered his gaze and the built-up tension seemed to evaporate like dew on the sunning stones.   
“Get on, then,” Springstar insisted more gently as she glanced between the two and offered a smile. “You both are impressive hunters, if nothing else.”  
Stonepaw allowed himself to smile before Ashfall roughly nudged them both towards the entrance with a sour expression contorting his dark face. “Let’s get this over with, then,” he rumbled. His massive, grey form shoved its way through the reed tunnel first, forcing Cinderpaw and Stonepaw to follow a little begrudgingly. “And don’t think you’re out of the clear, Cinderpaw,” the tom added in a snap before he splashed into the water and swam across to the other side.  
Cinderpaw pinned his ears and mocked Ashfall’s speech before splashing into the water and paddling after as quickly as he could, but his thin legs and small paws always gave the young tom a tough time. Stonepaw pretended he did not notice and even slowed his own paddling to make the tom feel more sure of himself. On the other side, Ashfall waited with his yellow eyes narrowed to slits and his lips partly drawn in a snarl.   
“Alright, where’s this other prey you all found?” The senior warrior hissed and swished his tail in annoyance.   
I’m so glad Springstar’s my mentor. Stonepaw shuddered. The only thing worse than Ashfall for a mentor would be Shadowfrost, but he’d never had an apprentice as far as Stonepaw was aware.  
“This way,” Cinderpaw called and bounded up the hill.   
As they went up, Stonepaw quickly noticed that Cinderpaw was intentionally taking them on the steepest route through a thick patch of nettle bushes. The thorns tore at Stonepaw’s soft, brown pelt, but he couldn’t imagine the agony of a large cat like Ashfall trying to push his way through. Up ahead, Cinderpaw glanced back with a playful smile and a sparkle in his blue eyes.  
Stonepaw almost laughed aloud. They bounded up the hill and turned around to check on Ashfall who was forcing his way along, leaving a trail of grey clumps behind him. The tom grunted in frustration and glared at Cinderpaw, but the apprentice went on smiling as casually as ever.  
“You always say to take advantage of my size, Ashfall!” Cinderpaw called haughtily before he wheeled about on his paws and pranced off towards where they’d buried the first vole.  
Ashfall only offered a growl in response as he finally managed to yank free of the last hungry nettles that clung to his fluffy tail as if their very existence depended on it. “Do you always choose such inconvenient locations to hunt?”  
“Cinderpaw decided we should hunt here because it’s less traveled, and he was right!” Stonepaw insisted in the tom’s defense. “There was so much fat prey here and they’d grown so sluggish without the threat of being hunted. It was pretty smart, if you ask me.”  
Ashfall’s eyes narrowed despite the praise. Stonepaw was uncertain whether the twitch of the tom’s whiskers was due to anger or disbelief, but he didn’t have time to wonder as a deep, low rumble reverberated through the ground where they stood and shook the very trees above their heads.  
Every cat froze and their ears pricked for the sound to come again. There was a faint taptaptap and a deep, whirring rumble. Another groan carried through the air, followed by a hollow thud that carried across the forest and rustled the delicate hairs in Stonepaw’s ears. The young tom sniffed the air as the breeze shifted and nearly choked on a vile odor carried within.  
“Twolegs,” Ashfall spoke up first, all semblance of anger gone. His eyes were wide now and his ears pricked as he sniffed the air again.  
Cinderpaw, however, seemed to relax a little as he took in the putrid stench. “It’s just the treecutters,” he insisted mildly. “They won’t hurt us.”  
Stonepaw had never seen a treecutter, personally, but he’d once heard a Thunderclan apprentice talk about the great beasts at a Gathering. They had massive, yellow teeth, easily the size of a cat and powerful jaws that would grab entire trees and carry them away. “But treecutters don’t come to Riverclan…?” The apprentice hesitated and turned to Ashfall who only seemed to be growing tenser.  
“You both stay here,” Ashfall spat and dashed off towards the scent without another word.  
Instantly, Cinderpaw’s eyes locked with Stonepaw’s.  
“Cinderpaw, we’re already in trouble!” Stonepaw objected as he saw the same fire Cinderpaw’s eyes always had.  
The young tom snorted and pinned his brown ears against his head. “Exactly! What worse can they do?” Cinderpaw purred and flashed Stonepaw one last glance before he dashed off after Ashfall’s retreating, grey tail.  
I should have just stayed and slept. Stonepaw swallowed down his doubt and hurried after, though the thought of sleep again dragged at his mind and paws like nettles desperately holding him back from the others. Despite this, he forced his way onwards. He’d sleep soon.  
Unfortunately, the twolegs were closer than any of the cats could have hoped. Just down the hill and over the crest of another, the echoing thuds began to carry like thunder and the entire ground shook beneath their paws as Cinderpaw and Stonepaw crept after Ashfall. The warrior had perched in a bush so that all the two apprentices could see was his lashing tail and hindquarters sticking out from amidst green leaves.  
“Come on,” Cinderpaw hissed to Stonepaw before the tom leaped up onto the lowest branch of an oak tree and began to climb with the ease of a Thunderclan cat.  
Stonepaw followed and immediately regretted his decision the moment his claws caught on the bark and he was able to look below his paws. I’d much rather keep my paws wet than off the ground. “Cinderpaw!” He hissed vainly, but the tom was already disappearing into the leaves far above Stonepaw’s head.  
The brown apprentice followed at a much slower pace. He grasped the tree around the sides and frantically scrabbled at the thick bark with his back claws. The method wasn’t particularly effective, but he managed to claw his way up with only mild scrapes from his legs brushing up against the bark. The branches here were thinner and Stonepaw closed his eyes tightly, afraid the branch he’d chosen would snap beneath his paws as he crept forward to peek out from the thick leaf canopy.  
“What do you see?” Cinderpaw hissed from somewhere above, but Stonepaw couldn’t see him.  
“Hold up, okay!?” Stonepaw managed to meow, but it came out as more of a squeak as the branch shuddered beneath him with another low rumble. He shoved his head through a thick clump of leaves and was relieved and terrified to suddenly be able to see for miles.  
Straight ahead stretched endless tree branches and a blue sky dotted with the occasionally cloud – white and fluffy like a baby rabbit. He could barely make out the mountains in the haze of the horizon, but just below his paws was a startling sight. The trees that had once grown so thick in this portion of the forest were laid out on their sides while a great, yellow monster whizzed about from tree to tree and plucked up mouthfuls like they were twigs and brought them to one, great pile resting on the back of another monster with a long, flat back and large head.  
“They’re cutting down the trees,” Stonepaw breathed as his eyes darted from place to place. Twolegs also paraded through the barren area, sporting large sticks that glinted in the light which they used to strike the fallen trees. Some of their kin sat by the river and chattered amongst themselves. One or two even laughed and tossed stones into the swirling depths.  
“They’re talking about us,” Cinderpaw hissed close to Stonepaw’s ear. Stonepaw nearly fell out of the tree from fright. He craned his neck about to see the white tom perched on the very edge of a branch above. The young limb sagged under the tom’s slight weight, allowing Cinderpaw to easily talk.  
“How do you know that?” Stonepaw requested, only realizing how stupid the question was after the words escaped his mouth. “Can you really understand twolegs!?”  
“Somewhat,” the white tom murmured and swiveled his giant ears forward to hone in on the garble of two twolegs that stood nearby their trees. “They keep saying ‘cats’… and I think…” the tom frowned and tilted his head to one side. “I know that word… hold on…” he growled as his blue eyes narrowed with concentration.  
“Cat catchers!” He yowled suddenly. Stonepaw tensed and grasped the branch more tightly, almost expecting Cinderpaw’s to snap from his energetic outcry.  
Below, the twolegs paused and looked about, shouting amongst themselves before they all began to let out guttural grunts and hollers while they slapped their legs enthusiastically. Thankfully, none even looked up towards where they were perched in the tree.  
“Cinderpaw, let’s get down before Ashfall…” Stonepaw stopped himself short. No doubt the tom had heard Cinderpaw’s cry. All hopes of appearing like they’d listened had already been blown out of the water.  
Thankfully, Cinderpaw nodded and began jumping from branch to branch with the ease of a bird fluttering to the ground. Stonepaw, on the other hand, crept back towards the main trunk of the tree and dug his claws in so that he could slowly slide down. The bark tugged at his claws and threatened to rip them out entirely, but Stonepaw wasn’t about to go jumping onto unstable branches.  
One last strip of bark and Stonepaw could spring off and onto the soft grass below. Cinderpaw was waiting with Ashfall beside him. The tom, however, did not look angry. Instead, he simply looked fearful.  
“Cat-catchers…?” He reiterated and Cinderpaw nodded.  
“I’d know the word anywhere. I always used to hear it-“ the tom stopped abruptly and lowered his head. “They said cat-catchers. I’m positive.”  
Ashfall’s eyes softened for just a moment and he licked the top of Cinderpaw’s head. “Well then, we have to get back to the clan. Grab any prey close to here. The rest will have to wait. Springstar must be aware of the twolegs. If they cut much closer, they’ll reach the camp.”  
“Or they’ll drive away all our prey,” Stonepaw agreed.  
All three raced back towards camp without exchanging another word.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Memorial Day to all you Americans!  
> Just a reminder to head over to the tumblr blog at https://aroguenamedstorm.tumblr.com/ for additional content and art by the creators!

“Springstar!” Ashfall yowled at full volume as all three toms came crashing back into camp.   
A couple warriors were in the clearing and froze as the three stormed in. They glanced to one another, but none spoke. Willowfur appeared shortly after, her green eyes darting between all three of them curiously. “Springstar went out on a border patrol. What’s the matter?”  
“No doubt she’ll find out for herself,” Ashfall growled. He could feel his heart thundering in his ears as the image of the twolegs and their treecutters was all too vivid in his mind. How could they get here so fast? Surely a patrol would have noticed them before now?  
“What is it?” Dovetail bounded up and glanced between them all. She sat down beside Willowfur, her eyes hard and determined. “Well?”  
“Twolegs are in our territory,” Cinderpaw spoke up. Ashfall almost winced.  
He needs to learn to speak when given permission.   
“He’s right,” the grey tom spoke up in an attempt to divert any aggression from Cinderpaw. “When we went to retrieve their prey, we found a clearing without trees. They’re going to scare away the prey before long.”  
The deputy’s green eyes widened into two identical green pools as she took a moment to let that sink in. “Where?” Willowfur demanded in a hiss.   
“Just up the river,” Ashfall explained. “Over Fox Hill.”  
Willowfur straightened up and averted her gaze for a moment to glance at Dovetail. The she-cat nodded, her ears slowly lowering down to rest against her grey head. “We haven’t been patrolling that area since the fox attack,” Dovetail reminded as she turned her gaze back to Ashfall.  
Ashfall felt like tiny claws were slowly creeping up his back.   
“Perhaps it was a good thing, after all,” Willowfur added. “If a patrol had accidentally run into a twoleg out there… and apprentices aren’t allowed outside of the camp without their mentor or another warrior.” Ashfall noted her gaze as it flashed to Stonepaw and Cinderpaw.  
The small, brown tom obediently lowered his gaze. However, Cinderpaw just met her gaze as if they were littermates and Ashfall felt frustration boiling up inside of him. The tom should know respect by now. He’d been with the clan for several moons and still…? This wasn’t ignorance. This was defiance. He attempted to quietly smack Cinderpaw with the tip of his tail and the apprentice blinked and turned to him with a smile.  
Dammit, Kit. I swear, you’ll be the end of us both.  
“What’s the matter?” Ashfall turned to see Sparrowwing standing before him. The handsome brown tom looked between everyone gathered and glanced to the others who stood with him.  
Amberspeck hung back a little, her black and orange face contorted with fear as she looked about for another corpse in the camp. Beside her stood Icestripe. The silver tabby even looked worried, though Ashfall wasn’t sure that was completely possible for the cocky, young tom.  
“Is it Storm?” The small squeak came not from Icestripe, but from Leafpaw who stood behind the white tom, trembling, with wide yellow eyes that swam with pure fear one so young shouldn’t have to suffer.   
“No, no…” Ashfall purred. Dovetail immediately moved over to console her kit and nudge her away.  
“I’ll report when we have answers. For now, everyone get back to your dens before you start a panic!” Willowfur yowled. Only once the gathered cats began to grumble and rise to their paws did she turn her attention to Ashfall once more.  
“Springstar will be returning soon. Do you think it’s really that dire?” She hissed more softly to Ashfall so that cats wouldn’t overhear again. “Perhaps we can just move camp for a little while? Surely they’ll leave when the seasons change?”  
“I don’t know,” Ashfall growled. “They’re very close. And Cinderpaw believes they were talking of ‘cat-catchers’ as he calls them.”  
Willowfur then turned her attention to Ashfall’s apprentice. “You can understand the twoleg speech?” She requested suspiciously. “They just make warbled jibes and chatter…”  
“You learn some of the words if you actually bother to listen,” Cinderpaw hissed with sudden fierceness that almost caused Willowfur to flinch.   
Watch your tongue, Kit. You’re a warrior now…  
“Cat-catchers are common in the twolegplace. They run about with these big sticks and catch stray cats. I think they’re trained for it, actually.”  
The deputy turned to Ashfall again with narrowed, green eyes. “Do you believe him?” She requested in a slight growl. Obviously, she wasn’t the only one to notice Cinderpaw’s defensiveness.  
“I think I do,” Ashfall leveled as he turned his gaze to the young tom. Cinderpaw just watched Willowfur defiantly and held his head high.  
“Then we need to think fast,” Willowfur hissed. “Stonepaw!” The brown apprentice sat up straighter and his eyes met hers. “I need you to find Springstar’s patrol and bring them back immediately. Is that understood?”  
“But what about Storm…?” The tom requested in a small voice. Ashfall saw fear flash before the young cat’s eyes and he couldn’t really blame him. Storm had beaten a battle-ready patrol. What could he do to one apprentice.  
Willowfur’s ears flattened. “You’re fast. You’ll be fine, Stonepaw,” she coaxed. “We need them to get this message immediately or we could all be in danger. Please.”  
The tom hesitated and quickly licked the fur on his chest while his whiskers trembled. However, he rose to his paws and offered a resolute nod before he vanished through the reed tunnel.  
“In the meantime, get Nettlebush and Foxtail ready to move,” Willowfur barked to Dovetail and Cinderpaw. “Ashfall, go to Nightsky and make sure he and Featherpaw pack up plenty of herbs in case we have to move. Also make sure someone remembers the freshkill pile!”  
“Of course,” all the cats meowed in unison and parted ways to their individual jobs. Ashfall made a beeline for the medicine cat den and pushed his way in just as Shadowfrost was leaving with the thick stench of herbs on his pelt. The tom offered a slight nod, but that was all the formality Ashfall apparently warranted.   
Inside the well-lit den, Nightsky was bent over a collection of berries. He rolled each over with his black paw and repeated the name to Featherpaw who watched with frightened, green eyes as she tried to repeat each one. Both looked up as Ashfall entered.  
“What’s going on outside?” The medicine cat requested as he stopped to wash his silky, black back. His ears, however, remained trained on Ashfall.  
“Twolegs are nearing our camp. We might have to move,” Ashfall explained in an apologetic tone. “Pack up all you can and we’ll find warriors to carry whatever you need. We’re just waiting for word from Springstar.”  
The black tom paused, tongue still partially out of his mouth as he paused and considered this. “Why would they come so close? Everyone knows the treecutterplace is near Thunderclan.”  
Ashfall shook his head. “They’ve come here and brought their monsters with them. I don’t think they’ll be stopping anytime soon,” he explained as he kept his eyes locked on Featherpaw. The she-cat was shifting uncomfortably and watching her paws as if she had something to hide. Nightsky noticed as well as his green eyes fell on her.  
“Something the matter?” He coaxed gently and nudged Featherpaw with his muzzle.   
Featherpaw glanced up at him for just a second before her green eyes darted back to her paws and she shifted them more furiously as if participating in some bizarre kind of dance.   
“You can speak. It’s just Ashfall,” Nightsky continued and nudged the she-cat again. He promptly licked her grey head which seemed to calm Featherpaw’s fidgeting a little, but her eyes always darted about with the same fear they always had.  
“There’s a river,” Featherpaw meowed. Ashfall had to strain his ears to pick up her soft voice even in the silence of the den. “The water’s too deep. The current’s too fast and cats can’t swim,” she continued and began to shuffle about again. “But there’s a jump to the shore! On the shore, though, is a fox and he likes to eat the cats that jump onto the shore. But the cats that don’t will drown…”  
What?   
Ashfall and Nightsky sat in silence. The medicine cat, however, seemed to make more of this than he did because Nightsky’s green eyes narrowed and he glanced up to the stars. “Was this one of your dreams, Featherpaw?” He requested gently.  
The she-cat nodded slowly. “The river’s coming.”  
“And the fox is waiting,” Ashfall finished and felt a prickle in his pelt. He hadn’t noticed fresh fox scent in the forest, but he wouldn’t put it past that fox from earlier to still be lurking. But they could handle one fox. At least, more so than they could handle twolegs.  
All thoughts were cut short as a loud caterwaul echoed through the camp. All was silent for a moment before the cry was followed by one word, shouted at the top of Springstar’s lungs.  
“RUN!!!”  
Nightsky was up in an instant and snatched what herbs he could in his jaws. Featherpaw whimpered and did her best to grab some as well. The poor apprentice was shaking, but Ashfall had bigger things to worry about at the moment. “Get with the others!” He commanded before he dashed back out into the clearing.  
All hell had suddenly broken loose. Cats were running amuck. Sparrowflight nearly crashed into Ashfall, her calico pelt stood on end as she looked about. For a moment, Ashfall couldn’t even figure out what the problem was. And then he saw the grey, dark, looming shapes moving through the trees towards their little island. The strides were larger than any fox or dog and the creatures walked on two legs, forcing their way through the dense undergrowth that had always protected the clan.  
How did they find us so fast!?  
There was barely time to think, but Ashfall remembered he had to keep himself together. He had to help the others. He dashed to the apprentice’s den first and checked that everything was vacated. Owlpaw and Leafpaw dashed out the moment he neared it with Cinderpaw and Dawnpaw coaxing them on like two of a team and not mortal enemies.   
Ashfall turned to the elder’s den, but Icestripe and Hawkshade were already there, softly coaxing the irritable Nettlebush as he hobbled along as quickly as he could. “I haven’t been this rushed since before any of you were born!” He hollered.  
At the nursery, Dovetail had already escorted Foxtail out. Both had met up with the apprentices and were the first to squeeze through the hole behind the nursery. Ashfall had never thought they’d have to use his favorite hideaway to escape.  
The bellowing of the twolegs could now be heard as they rushed upon their little island, brandishing their massive sticks.   
“Let’s go!” Finally, Ashfall caught sight of Springstar side by side with her apprentice as both corralled the remaining warriors on their retreat. Riverclan raced past Ashfall on both sides as he found himself unable to look away from the looming figures of the twolegs as they came closer. Something just felt… wrong.  
“Ashfall!” Teeth grasped at Ashfall’s thick, grey scruff and the tom whirled around to see Sparrowwing watching him with wide, golden eyes. “We’ve got to go!”  
“We have to wait for Featherpaw and Nightsky!” Ashfall spat back as he returned to the medicine cat den. He could hear the thunderous clapping of the twolegs feet against the ground and then, splashing. They were wading the river.  
Nightsky and Featherpaw popped their heads out of the medicine cat den just as Ashfall arrived. Nightsky dipped his head appreciatively but could not speak through his mouthfuls of herbs. Featherpaw had a wad about as big as her head. Both went dashing for the exit and Ashfall followed with Sparrowwing close by his side.  
“I think that’s everyone,” the tom panted, his eyes wild with fear as he shoved his way through the hole first. On the other side, the river was alive with frantically splashing cats as the twolegs began to gain.  
“We can outrun them,” Ashfall hissed as he threw himself into the water and waded along. He’d never been a fast swimmer due to his long fur dragging with the current, but it was enough to keep him ahead of the shadows that were looming closer.  
The clan began to run as one, headed for Fourtrees, Ashfall noticed. He hoped that someone capable was leading, but the line of cats was so thin and stretched so far that he couldn’t even make out half the clan as they dipped between bushes and dashed down the slope. One question, however, still lingered in his mind.  
How did they find us? Did they always know? Did we lead them here?  
Before his mind could be cleared, a familiar scent struck Ashfall nostrils and a white flash struck him and bowled him over. He was so caught off guard that he slammed against a tree and took several seconds to clear his head. Before him stood a pure white tom. On closer inspection, the tom had one grey paw and mismatched eyes filled with a fiery hatred unlike anything Ashfall had ever seen.  
The tom lunged for Ashfall’s throat, but the older warrior ducked aside and slashed at the white tom’s cheek, wondering where he came from. He reeked of twolegs, but he surely didn’t come with them?  
Ashfall didn’t have long to wonder as a stick crashed down near his head and he had to duck away, the stench of twolegs wafting about him as the twoleg raised the stick and attempted again to strike his head with it. The grey tom ducked and ran for it, as did his attacker, deeper into the forest.  
The sounds of screeches could he heard throughout and Ashfall finally pinpointed the familiar scent from earlier which had also clung to the white attacker’s pelt. Storm was here.  
Ashfall burst through a collection of bushes and into a clearing in turmoil. Cats were rounding on the few rogues and driving them back, but just before any true harm could be done, the twolegs came in and swung at every cat close by them. In one corner, the beautiful she-cat Ashfall had fought with earlier was being driven back by Icestripe, Hawkshade, and Nettlebush, but then a twoleg came down upon them, shouting his warbled speech.  
The cats scattered, but Nettlebush’s old limbs wouldn’t carry him fast enough and a thin rope caught around his neck and tightened as he tried to pull away. He cried out in a fury and clawed at the twoleg who remained safely at the other end of the stick. Ashfall let out a caterwaul and rushed to the elder’s aid, but he was stopped as the white tom from earlier tackled him again and bounced off just as quickly.  
The warrior whirled on his attacker as his white tail vanished into a flurry of fleeing cats. Yowls and shouts were drowning out Ashfall’s very thoughts as he desperately tried to think of a way to restore order. Cats were running around without reason now, their only desire to escape the attacks that seemed to come from all sides.  
And then Ashfall heard the distinct wail of Springstar, nearly drowned out amidst all the clamor. The tom dashed off towards the noise without regard for anything else, though his heart broke as he heard Nettlebush’s desperate cries, but his leader was more important.  
Around a bend, Ashfall found Springstar on her side. Her throat was torn and her eyes were wide, sightless. Her sides did not rise. Above her stood the hulking, grey shape of Storm, his claws poised to tear into Springstar’s exposed stomach when another cry could be heard and a white shape crashed into the rogue and bowled him over.  
Storm cried out in surprise as Snowstorm fell upon him with an unspeakable fierceness. He cried out and slashed at the rogue’s face and snapped at his neck to drive Storm away from his mate. Ashfall rushed in to help and crashed into Storm’s haunches so that the rogue twirled about and slammed to the ground. His green eyes flashed with fury as he kicked Ashfall in the face so hard Ashfall’s head snapped back violently.  
Snowstorm had his back, though. The beautiful, white tom fell upon Storm and slashed at him with enough fervor to drive the tom back. Storm’s lips parted in a snarl and he lunged again, catching the side of Snowstorm’s face with his claws with a blow so powerful it bowled Snowstorm over. Ashfall readied to leap when the familiar grey flash of Mapleclaw smashed into him and clawed at his face.  
Ashfall hissed and reared, powerful paws striking at Mapleclaw’s lithe frame, but the she-cat managed to duck away in time and dash about to latch onto Ashfall’s back. Instantly, the grey tom slammed down on his side and rolled, but Mapleclaw’s claws only dug deeper into his grey fur and held on tight despite his bucking and kicking.   
“I’ll make you all pay,” she hissed in Ashfall’s ear and he felt her teeth sink into the back of his neck.   
“Ashfall!” Ashfall almost expected to hear Copperblaze’s voice, but he saw the flick of a black tail as Mapleclaw was ripped from Ashfall’s back and thrown to the ground.   
Ashfall whirled around to see Shadowfrost standing there. The black tom looked exhausted and thin, still not fully recovered from his last battle, but his eyes were hard and determined as he turned on Mapleclaw.  
“You’re not so tough without daddy protecting you,” Mapleclaw hissed and lunged for Shadowfrost. The tom jumped back, but his paws were unsteady and Ashfall knew he had no the to had no chance without help. He bounded forward to strike Mapleclaw away.  
She danced back with ease, not even seeming particularly interested in harming either of them. Ashfall stiffened as he remembered the other fight he’d been a part of. He glanced behind him in time to see Storm snatch Snowstorm by the neck and slam the tom into the ground as the grey rogue’s teeth sank deeper into Snowstorm’s neck, dotting his pristine white fur with red.  
Ashfall rushed forward in a blind fury and slammed his shoulder into Storm’s. The rogue released, looking startled and stumbled back. Ashfall swung a blow that stroke Storm across the side of his head and slammed him into the ground. His claws flashed again, missing the underbelly and striking at Storm’s chest when he heard more hollering and was forced to remember that these rogues weren’t the only problem they had to deal with.  
The twolegs had caught up and crashed down upon them. One reached down for Ashfall and Storm. Both cats scattered away from the hand. Ashfall’s eyes flickered to Springstar, laying lifeless on the ground and Snowstorm lying beside her. There was no way he could possibly carry both.  
He growled and rushed forward to snatch his leader’s scruff in his jaws and dance away from the twoleg’s great stick. He turned abruptly and made a run for it. Nearby, he saw a flash of black as Shadowfrost disentangled himself from Mapleclaw and followed after, but the tom’s pace lagged and a twoleg stick snagged his neck.  
The tom let out a petrified wail as he found himself unable to escape and writhed against the contraption, desperately trying to pry himself free. Ashfall stopped dead, unable to tear his eyes away as Shadowfrost stared after him with frightened, golden eyes. He didn’t even plea for help, but just seemed quietly resigned that no help would come.  
And then it did.  
A small, cream shape Ashfall knew all too well came out of nowhere. Instead of rushing into battle as Cinderpaw always did, however, the young tom bounded forward and meowed earnestly to the twolegs who all seemed temporarily disarmed. They turned their attention to Cinderpaw and cooed back. One even crouched down and offered a hand as he continued his peculiar, cooing noises.  
Cinderpaw purred and padded forward despite the bewildered stares he received from Shadowfrost.   
Once a kittypet, always a kittypet.  
The thought stung, but Ashfall could think of no other explanation as his apprentice stalked up to the twoleg’s outstretched hand and rubbed against it before he made his way over to Shadowfrost’s captor and meowed earnestly. The tom rubbed against the twoleg’s leg as if he was kin and the twoleg cooed back at him affectionately.  
And then Cinderpaw changed. The tom suddenly leaned back on his haunches and lunged for the twoleg’s face as he bent over slightly to get a good look at him a delivered one remarkably precise slash to the twoleg’s eyes. The twoleg screeched and pulled back to grasp at his eyes, releasing his stick.  
Instantaneously, Cinderpaw and Shadowfrost both ran and Ashfall went with them while the twolegs hollered in pure rage and pursued on their ungainly, long legs.   
The three didn’t address each other and didn’t speak. Cinderpaw did his best to ensure the stick still hanging from Shadowfrost’s neck did not snag on anything as it dragged behind him while Ashfall did his best to gingerly crane his neck and carry Springstar onward.  
He couldn’t shake the horrid feeling of parallelism between this and only hoped that Springstar would fare better than Copperblaze had.


	12. The Heir

The three cats followed the scents of their clan, desperation driving their weary paws much faster than Shadowfrost figured any of them could run. Ashfall was stumbling slightly in front of the black tom as the massive cat tried his best to keep their leader from dragging against the ground.  
Shadowfrost could hear his heart roaring in his ears like rolling thundering, drowning out the sound of their frantic flight. So many things had happened so quickly, he’d barely had time to process it all. Twolegs, Storm, the snag around his neck, but more frightening than all of it was how close they’d come to losing Springstar the same way Shadowclan had lost Birchstar.  
Thin, warm fur brushed against Shadowfrost’s shoulder and he caught sight of Cinderpaw out of the corner of his eye. Despite everything, the kittypet’s large, blue eyes were filled with endless worry. Only then did Shadowfrost notice his own pace had been lagging. He tried to force himself onward at a quicker pace as his ears pinned to his head, but the stick still dangling limply from his neck snagged and he lost his footing and slammed into the grass.  
“You’re hurt. Hold still,” Cinderpaw advised, his breath warm against Shadowfrost’s neck. Before Shadowfrost could swipe the apprentice away, he felt the twine about his neck loosen and his breathing came slightly easier.  
The apprentice simply curled his tail and spat the twine from his mouth and gently nudged Shadowfrost’s shoulder. “Get up. We have to keep moving,” the tom advised with the gentleness of a queen to her kits.  
“I don’t need your help, Kittypet!” Shadowfrost snapped instinctively. He shoved himself onto his paws and hobbled off, but his legs screamed with weariness. His shoulder trembled, his neck ached, and he could feel the warm, slow dribble of blood from his shoulders and the cut in his throat.  
Cinderpaw ignored his snap and pressed his thin, white pelt against Shadowfrost’s black one without glancing into the dark tom’s rage-filled, golden eyes. “I support my clan.” He growled.  
Shadowfrost recalled the moment the twoleg had snagged him and felt a fresh wave of terror rush through him. He’d thought he was done for. No doubt, Ashfall would have been forced to leave him like he’d left Snowstorm. Who knows what horrors would have awaited Shadowfrost at the mercy of those twolegs...  
The black tom glanced about them at the large trees that stretched above their heads and towards Ashfall. The grey tom had already vanished up ahead. They were alone in the forest, except for the singing of a bluebird in one of the tree branches. “Thanks,” Shadowfrost rasped. His throat felt dry and ragged when he spoke, but the words had to be spoken before they ate away at his soul.  
Cinderpaw’s eyes brightened to the most brilliant, deep blue Shadowfrost had ever seen and he offered a bright smile. “It’s what any warrior would do!” The apprentice declared and nudged Shadowfrost along more earnestly. “It’s not too far to Fourtrees!”  
“I know my own damn territory, Kit. I was walking these paths before you ever stumbled upon us,” Shadowfrost hissed and lowered his head. He didn’t wait for Cinderpaw’s response and did his best to hurry his pace before his tired limbs gave up on him altogether.  
The apprentice hurried along to catch up to Shadowfrost. The tom noticed with irritation that his lagging pace was easy to match, even with Cinderpaw’s short, thin legs. “How many do you think we lost…?” the cat requested suddenly.  
Shadowfrost faltered as he saw the mournful expression on the little kittypet’s face. “At least two, probably more…” he responded and stopped before a fallen tree branch to let that sink in. “Snowstorm… Nettlebush…” the black tom slightly opened his mouth to drink the warm, leaffall air.  
It was thick with the scent of fear and fleeing cats. The twoleg stench lingered as well. It was impossible to tell who had passed by here.  
“We ought to hurry in case Storm and his cats are following…” Cinderpaw hissed as his eyes flickered about to the bushes. “I don’t know how… but I think this was all a setup. The twolegs didn’t know where we lived! How could they have found us so fast?”  
“Does it matter?” Shadowfrost huffed as he leaned back on his haunches and bounded over a fallen branch and quickened his pace once more to catch up to Ashfall, but the tom was so far ahead at this point that the effort was futile.  
“Yes!” Cinderpaw yowled. “We need to know who’s to blame. If it was his fault, all these deaths are on Storm! We have to go to the other clans! We can’t just let him slowly pick us off like this!” The tom continued in a loud, desperate cry as he scampered along beside Shadowfrost.  
Shadowfrost decided to fall silent and hung his head as he bounded along.  
You don’t understand our world, Kittypet. No one will do a damn thing.  
After what felt like an eternity, the two could finally make out the large oak trees that marked the four corners of Fourtrees. Shadowfrost pricked his own ears as he heard the gentle murmur of the clan talking. The scene that unfolded before their eyes as they rounded the hill, however, was notably more chaotic. Cats were dashing to and fro, calling out the names of friends and foes alike. The air stank with the thick scent of terror and the fearful, wide eyes and agape mouth seemed to be on every face Shadowfrost laid his eye son.  
In the midst of it all was the beautiful, lithe shape of Dovetail as she bounded along and over to the Great Rock. The she-cat hopped up in a single bound and her cry silenced the clearing as if freezing time. All chatter stopped and all eyes turned on the old she-cat as she looked down on them all with her keen, blue eyes.  
“All injured will gather beneath me to be healed by Nightsky and Featherpaw. If you are not bleeding, you can wait!” The she-cat called sternly as her eyes wandered from eye to eye with the intensity Shadowfrost always wished Springstar possessed. “I want you all to group up. Warriors, find your denmates. See who’s missing. Apprentices, check for your denmates and the elders. Are we understood!?” She bellowed.  
“Where’s Springstar!?” Squirrelblaze called from below the rock, her red pelt glinting in the midday sun.   
Shadowfrost quietly made his way up to where Ashfall had stopped and set their leader down. The massive tom was breathing heavily and his gaze was filled with incomprehensible grief as he glanced to the smaller, black warrior beside him.  
Snowstorm wasn’t your fault, you giant dimwit…  
Dovetail, however, had turned her gaze to the three of them as silence fell over the clearing once more and every eye stared intently at them both. “Is she alive!?” Dovetail called and hopped from the rock, her moment of glory replaced by a mother’s fear.  
“She will live, but she lost a life,” Ashfall advised softly as the grey she-cat hurried over to them all and bowed her head before her daughter. Shadowfrost could see her long fur rippling with fright as she sniffed at her daughter and recalled that she had lost Copperblaze not too long ago.   
“How many…?” Dovetail requested more softly as she raised her eyes to them both. Each eye was so wide it looked to be an endless, shaking lake of blue as she could barely manage to hold their gazes.  
“Just one, I believe” Ashfall managed to speak, but the tom’s voice was thick and his voice rasped like he had something stuck in his throat. He shuffled his dark paws uncomfortably and turned away from his mother as her eyes pleaded for more info.  
“We caught scents, but what happened…?”  
“Storm attacked,” Cinderpaw spoke up. The little apprentice pushed his way between Shadowfrost and Ashfall and met Dovetail’s eyes with endless confidence. “I believe this was all his ploy. He led the twolegs to us and then waited to ambush us when we fled.”  
“What!?” Shadowfrost turned to see that Crowflight and Hawkshade had both made their way over with Badgerfoot, Squirrelblaze, and Dawnpaw close behind. It had been Hawkshade who spoke. The massive tabby’s shoulders bristled and his golden eyes grew wide with barely concealed rage as his whiskers quivered.  
Crowflight, however, was more composed as he made his way over to sit on Shadowfrost’s right. His glossy, black pelt shuddered as he took in a deep breath. All eyes were on him now as the oldest warrior, aside from Dovetail considered his words carefully. “We don’t have proof of this, but it’d make sense. Out of our camp, we’re vulnerable. We’re easier to pick off.”  
Energy rippled through all the gathered cats as all the clan quietly made their way to circle about them. Stonepaw came to sit beside Dawnpaw and the tentative queen, Foxtail, joined her friend, Dovetail. Stormfly joined his sister, Badgerfoot and Briartooth, Mapleclaw’s brother, even came to sit at the back of the cats. The small, scared, brown tom shook now more than ever and his wide, green eyes spoke nothing, but his deepest fears. Icestripe and Swallowfeather soon joined as well, the massive black and white tabby tom dwarfing the delicate calico she-cat. Last, but not least, Owlpaw, Leafpaw, Featherpaw, and Nightsky made their way with Amberspeck following close behind.  
Where’s Willowfur…? Sparrowwing?  
“So, what’s the plan…?” Stonepaw spoke up now, his voice a feeble squeak compared to Crowflight’s level tone.   
“We wait for Springstar to come back,” Nightsky spoke up. The black medicine cat pushed his way through the crowd of cats to sniff at his leader. His green eyes were unreadable, but Shadowfrost noticed even he had the nervous twitching ears and tail that all the clan shared. “Starclan will heal the wound that killed her and she will return to us.”  
“When?” Icestripe spoke up. Despite the tom’s large stature, he was shaking like a leaf.   
“When she wakes up!” Dovetail snapped. “Now get to doing what I told you! We need to find out who’s missing!”  
“Snowstorm and Nettlebush,” Ashfall spoke up. His voice was stronger now as he tried to swallow down the rasp in his tone. “Nettlebush was caught by the twolegs. Snowstorm… he fell protecting Springstar from Storm. I had no choice, but to bring Springstar back. I could do nothing for Snowstorm.”  
Suddenly, all eyes fell on Shadowfrost and he could feel his hackles slowly rise with nervousness. The gazes that fell on him were mixed, from the downright hostile gaze of Hawkshade to the more sympathetic gaze of Nightsky. He knew what they would ask before the words even escaped Icestripe’s lips.  
“Why didn’t you bring Snowstorm back!?” The white and black tom declared accusingly.  
Shadowfrost felt his pelt burn hot from embarrassment and averted his gaze from the clan as their gazes narrowed and the air crackled with fury.  
“Ashfall brought back Springstar. The least you could do is bring back my daughter’s mate!” Dovetail spoke up now, her voice sharp as her blue eyes burned into Shadowfrost’s very soul.  
“Why’d you lag behind, otherwise!?” Dawnpaw called out loudly.  
“Maybe he was helping Storm!” Owlpaw added in chorus.   
“You were there for Copperblaze, too, and you did nothing!” Stormfly howled, throwing back his fluffy tabby head.  
The fur on every cats’ back seemed to stand on end as all the rage and emotion of the terror was shoved upon Shadowfrost. Shadowfrost merely lowered his head and kept his eyes locked on his paws. For once, he craved the tingling feeling in his pelt when he’d been able to look down on all of them. He missed the power. He missed the praise. This…? This was-  
“He was defending Springstar!” Cinderpaw howled suddenly above the clamor of the clan.  
Brought back to reality, Ashfall nodded his head in affirmation and rose to his paws. “He did everything he could to protect Springstar and Snowstorm. Look at him! He’s injured!”  
“He hardly made it back here on his own two paws! He couldn’t have brought along Snowstorm!” Cinderpaw declared stubbornly as both cats moved slightly in front of Shadowfrost.  
Shadowfrost felt a tinge of frustration at being portrayed as so weak.   
I can handle myself. I don’t need your protection.   
He held back the words and slowly rose to his paws. “I’ll go fetch the dead,” he spat and bounded away from the clan before anyone could object despite the pain in every fiber of his being.  
Behind him, he heard the loud call of Dawnpaw above all else. “Like father like son!”  
Shadowfrost, however, skidded to an unexpected halt as he came nose to nose with Sparrowwing’s concerned face as the tom desperately tried to drag Willowfur along in his jaws. The white and black deputy dangled limply in Sparrowwing’s jaws, her fur coated red with fresh cuts along the length of her pelt.  
“Please,” Sparrowwing managed in a small voice before he collapsed at Shadowfrost’s paws.  
“Nightsky!” The call was unnecessary as the medicine cat was there in a moment, sniffing the tom all over with wide eyes.   
“They must have run into more of Storm’s rogues,” Nightsky spat as he flicked his tail for Featherpaw to come join him. The little, grey tabby hobbled over, shaking like a leaf, but listened to his orders diligently enough.  
To add to the torment, Springstar finally stirred with a violent convulsion. The leader’s claws dug into the dirt and her head shot up quickly, a growl on the tip of her tongue as she whirled about. “What’s going on!?” She demanded, her grey fur standing on end as she hopped to her feet.  
She was instantly swarmed by grateful coos and comforting licks as the clan tried to assure their leader that she was safe. “I worried I’d lost you,” Dovetail coaxed, but Springstar’s eyes looked past all of them to Ashfall and Shadowfrost in turn.  
“Where’s Snowstorm?” The leader called.  
Shadowfrost felt as if ice was creeping up his limbs, crawling in through his paw pads and sinking deep into his bones as Springstar’s yellow eyes blazed with endless fury.   
“Where is he!?” She demanded again, more desperately. “You both were there! I saw you!”  
Dovetail inched closer to her daughter and frantically rasped her tongue over Springstar’s cheek, but the normally cheerful she-cat drew away violently to turn fully on Shadowfrost and Ashfall. The grey goliath cleared his throat and lowered his gaze as he couldn’t find the words.  
It's always got to be me, doesn’t it?  
Shadowfrost growled and stepped forward, explaining everything yet again as frankly as he could. Beside him, Ashfall noticeably tensed as the fire seemed to melt away from Springstar’s eyes and the strength seemed to flee from her like birds from a bush. Thankfully, her gaze seemed to gloss over the form of her deputy as Nightsky endlessly fretted over her and Sparrowwing.  
“Where’s Snowstorm?” Springstar requested again, her voice feebler despite being provided the answer.   
“We’re going to retrieve him,” Shadowfrost tried, but the leader seemed deaf to his words.  
“He was protecting me… and you all were protecting him…”  
“But Storm caught us off guard!” Shadowfrost spat before he could help himself. Springstar’s sudden, pitiful state drove him up a wall. This was the last thing the clan needed on display for all to see. “Snowstorm defended you and so did we, but there’s was only so much we could-“  
“He might still be alive if we hurry!” Ashfall insisted sharply to interrupt the black tom.   
The light returned to Springstar in a wave and her terror was replaced with a bright smile. “Yes, right! Bring me to him now!”  
“But you’re wounded!” Nightsky objected from beside Sparrowwing and Willowfur, but the leader, again, seemed deaf to all, but what she wanted to hear.  
“Take me now!” She barked more sternly. Shadowfrost nodded and rose to his paws, but he was trembling from exhaustion and only now considered how unlikely he was to be able to make the journey. Thankfully, Cinderpaw stepped forward to volunteer.  
“I’ll show her the way,” the little, white tom offered as he puffed out his small chest and raised his small head.   
“I’ll go too!” Stonepaw piped up as the brown tom scrambled away from his clanmates to stand beside his mentor. His eyes were filled with more fear than normal and his yellow gaze kept flickering to Springstar with concern.  
“And I’ll go as well. That should be more than enough,” Dovetail coaxed.   
Shadowfrost figured the old she-cat was just as afraid as the rest of them, but she hid it all behind a calm exterior and a gentle smile. Her blue eyes glimmered, but the black tom could have sworn he saw a nervous twitch of her whiskers as she nudged Springstar off towards the way they had just come. “Show us the way, Cinderpaw.”  
“On it!” Cinderpaw hollered and bounded off with the others trailing close behind.


	13. The Widow

11\. The Widow

The scene that greeted the party was devastation. The bushes had been trampled, leaves scattered, and deep twoleg steps had indented the soft grass throughout the clearing. Cinderpaw expertly darted about all these obstacles with his ears pricked and alert for the faintest sound of danger as they all followed the faint fear scent of the clan’s previous retreat.  
Dovetail remained in step beside Springstar who bounded along with the energy of a young apprentice. Every muscle in her body seemed to tense and release with every spring, barely concealing the energy rippling just beneath her daughter’s skin. In the light of the warm sun, Springstar’s fur seemed to gleam and her eyes glistened with the same fire as Copperblaze. For once, the young she-cat looked truly like a leader in her mother’s eyes.  
And then the stench of blood reached Dovetail’s nostrils and the clan skidded to a halt amid some bushes. Snowstorm lay there in the flickering light of the sun, his brilliant white and orange fur tinted red from the gash in his neck. The wound was eerily reminiscent of the one that had felled Copperblaze and Dovetail felt a chill run along her spine like static.   
However, Snowstorm stirred as he heard the padding of paws. The young tom stretched out a forepaw towards them and tried to drag himself to his feet, but he was too weak to even move. “Hello…?” he croaked in a weak voice.   
Every grey fur on Dovetail’s arched back rose. They had to get him help. Immediately.  
“Cinderpaw, go get Nightsky!” Dovetail barked, painfully aware that pulling the medicine cat away from camp might mean refusing treatment for their deputy. She just hoped Featherpaw could manage to help sustain Willowfur.   
Cinderpaw nodded and was gone in a flash, leaving Stonepaw and Springstar to help with Snowstorm.  
Springstar had already rushed to her mate’s side and cooed softly, her licks rasping along his neck in an attempt to bring back the same, warm shine it normally showed when not caked in blood and dirt. “Come now. Rest, rest,” Springstar coaxed like a mother fretting over her kits. A purr rumbled deep in her chest as Snowstorm squirmed slightly in an attempt to reach up and lick the bottom of her chin.  
“Are… are you okay…?” Snowstorm croaked as his golden eyes never left Springstar’s worried face.  
“Hush,” Springstar coaxed as she nestled deeper into his white fur and inhaled his warm, familiar scent.  
Dovetail and Stonepaw both quietly made their way over to their leader and sat on either side of her. Stonepaw pressed his small, brown form into Springstar’s grey fur and purred encouragingly, his little, pink tongue flattening the ruffled fur on his mentor’s shoulders while Dovetail set to work flattening the fur on Springstar’s head.  
“Nightsky’s coming,” Dovetail promised between licks, but she knew her daughter was too absorbed in her mate. They’d always been inseparable since they’d been apprentices. Not a word in the world would convince Springstar to turn her attention away from him now.  
“You were so brave,” Springstar purred the praise as she hid her face in the fluff of Snowstorm’s neck. “You didn’t even worry about yourself. I have nine lives-“  
“And all nine of them… the clan desperately needs.” Snowstorm’s voice was more of a croak at this point. It scratched and broke, sounding more like air brushing across the tips of a bush than the tom’s normal, milky tone.   
The leader’s eyes softened as she nestled deeper into Snowstorm’s thick fluff. “All nine of which I’ll spend with you,” Springstar promised in a soft, distant tone.  
They continued to speak softly to one another, but all Dovetail could focus on was the noises around them. Surely, Nightsky would be able to make it. If Snowstorm had hung on this long, they couldn’t possibly lose him now. Dovetail wasn’t sure Springstar could tolerate the loss.  
And then, all at once, the talking quieted. Springstar let out a slight gasp and nuzzled Snowstorm’s cheek, but his head lolled back limply. His eyes had settled, focused on something far off as their golden sparkle slowly dulled. His mate simply pressed against him ever tighter, though she didn’t let out a peep.   
“Springstar,” Stonepaw tried, but she was, again, deaf to all sounds around her as her yellow eyes never left Snowstorm’s still face.  
Dovetail closed her eyes and turned away, but she could hear the approaching pawsteps as Nightsky rushed into the clearing after Cinderpaw. “Where is he-!?” The medicine cat began, but his question abruptly stopped.  
The tom’s paws skidded loudly across the grass and leaves and Dovetail could hear the soft rustle of his pelt as he inched closer. “Springstar,” he tried in a gentle tone, but Springstar offered no audible response.   
Finally, Dovetail could hide from the present no longer and slowly opened her blue eyes again just as the black medicine cat settled down beside her daughter. He cautiously reached out one paw to pull Snowstorm’s eyelids down over his eyes. Springstar sat beside him. Her eyes were blank, wide, and staring into Snowstorm’s pelt as if she was lost there. The leader’s ears rested against the top of her head and she offered no response even when Stonepaw reached up to lick his mentor’s chin.  
“We need to bring his body back,” Dovetail sighed and gingerly rose onto her paws as she looked over all the cats gathered. “The clan needs direction, Springstar.”  
Springstar’s eyes flickered up to her mother, blazing with rage and infinite grief. “They can manage on their own! Or Willowfur can deal with it,” she hissed so fiercely that Stonepaw recoiled and stared at the grey and white she-cat in horror.  
Dovetail even took a partial step back, but refused to flinch as her ears flattened against her own head. “Willowfur was wounded too! You will go and you will fulfill your duty as leader, Springstar!” She barked before she allowed her tone to grow gentler. “You will have your time to mourn, but your clan needs a leader right now.”  
Riverclan’s leader just turned away and gingerly plucked up Snowstorm in her jaws without addressing Dovetail again. Nightsky quickly joined her and the two of them led the way back through the twisting bushes towards Fourtrees. Stonepaw hung back and looked to Dovetail with wide, golden eyes.   
“She’s need time,” he tried to be comforting.  
“Our clan doesn’t have time,” Dovetail responded as gently as she could and brushed her tail underneath Stonepaw’s chin before she bounded after her daughter and the medicine cat.

The return to camp was met with mournful cries as every able clan cat hurried over to Nightsky and Springstar. The beautiful, white tom was set in the middle of the clearing where the light most brightly shined on his pelt. Springstar and Stonepaw both joined him in silence.   
A horrified yowl rang out through the clan as Squirrelblaze spotted her brother lying there. Her daughter, Dawnpaw, also heard, and both red cats rushed to the white tom’s side. They cooed and spoke softly over the dead warrior as everyone worked to clean the blood from his pelt. Other cats filed by to pay their respects, but Dovetail didn’t allow herself to watch for long.  
Clan life had to go on. They were without a home, without a territory, and hounded by rogues. They had to get to safety.  
The grey she-cat hurried over to where Featherpaw was still diligently looking over Sparrowwing and Willowfur. Both cats were resting, their flanks rising and falling with even, restful gasps despite the blood that still coated their pelts.  
Willowfur was the worst. The beautiful black and white tabby’s face was covered in blood. She lay on her side and twitched feebly. Her foreleg was twisted and bloody and, though steady, her breathing sounded weak and Dovetail could hear the faint sound of her heart beating far too fast.   
“What happened…?” Dovetail requested of her skittish daughter.  
Featherpaw paused, wet moss dangling from her mouth as she dabbed it on Sparrowwing’s red and swollen shoulder. She rested it down gently before speaking in the same, wispy tone she always used. “Sparrowwing… he said a couple things, but he’s tired. I think they were attacked by more rogues…” The little apprentice claimed feebly, her eyes wide. “What if they come back again?”  
“Then that’d be a mistake,” Dovetail purred and nuzzled her little runt, though it was a decent question. Fourtrees was a massive clearing, granted, that’d be hard to sneak up on, but it was easy to enter and any cat could stand on the high ridges all around it and see all that happened within. The thin bushes and trees that surrounded the four great oaks were hardly worthy shelter to keep them safe, either.  
Ashfall apparently thought the same as the large tom came bounding over to Dovetail with wide, worried eyes. “We need to move. We’re not safe here.”  
“I agree, but twolegs and rogues are in our territory. It’s not safe to just head back,” Dovetail hissed as she inched out of earshot from her already horrified daughter. “And Springstar’s certainly in no mood to call the shots…” her blue eyes again flickered to the grey and white she-cat, huddled close to her beloved.  
“And Willowfur’s too weak to respond,” Ashfall hesitated, his own yellow eyes looking out over his mother to linger on the still deputy. “I’m not sure she’ll ever recover…”  
“She must,” Dovetail hissed and pinned her own ears. It was enough for Springstar to lose a life and her mate. She didn’t need to lose her deputy and dear friend as well. “We’ll make the decisions for now. Get the rest of the senior warriors together and we’ll arrange-“  
Both cats froze, their grey ears pricking at the sound of shuffling just beyond the trees. Dovetail instinctively fluffed up and bounded towards the sound to stand in the way of the intruders and her precious clan with Ashfall close beside her.   
Four cats pushed their way through the bracken on the Thunderclan side of the clearing and the familiar scent of the forest followed with them. Dovetail’s hackles relaxed ever so slightly, relieved that it wasn’t the rogues, but Thunderclan was still a rival and could pose a threat. The four cats had obviously been on patrol.   
At the forefront stood a beautiful, brown tabby she-cat with powerful shoulders and sharp green eyes. Dovetail instantly recognized her as the Thunderclan deputy, Tigerpelt. Beside her stood a fluffy, black tom with smiling, brown eyes. Each of them had an apprentice at their side. Both were toms – one small and silver with black spotting and the other a calico with a distinctive, bright red chest and bright, orange eyes like a leaffall sunset.  
“What are you doing here!?” Ashfall’s loud, powerful voice boomed out. The tom stood strong and stretched to his full, enormous size, dwarfing the other cats within his black shadow.   
Tigerpelt, however, did not even blink as her green eyes skeptically looked past them to the clearing. “I think we have much more reason to ask you that. Cats don’t just come to Fourtrees… and I smell blood-“ she paused as her eyes found Springstar and the other mourning cats surrounding Snowstorm.  
“You’ve been attacked?” The black tom beside her requested in a much gentler tone.   
“By who?” Tigerpelt requested with increasingly narrowed eyes. Her voice remained even, but Dovetail could see her hackles were ever so slightly raised, but she wasn’t certain why. “Shadowclan?”  
Dovetail promptly shook her head and rested her tail along Ashfall’s back to assure him she had this. “We were attacked by Storm,” she reported softly, her blue eyes locked with Tigerpelt’s in an attempt to stare the deputy into submission despite the latter being a higher rank than her.  
Tigerpelt snorted as she looked about the clearing. “Storm, eh? I never thought Riverclan could be so weak,” she purred.   
“He led twolegs to our camp and waited to ambush us as we fled,” Ashfall spat as his already bushy tail grew to be about the size of a cat on its own.   
Tigerpelt smirked at that comment as her eyes flickered between them both, obviously uncertain whether or not they were joking. “That’s quite an accusation. Do you have proof?”  
“Twolegs invaded our camp!” Ashfall spat in frustration as his claws dug into the dirt. “Is that not enough evidence? And when we ran away, he was waiting for us!”  
“Are you certain one of your foolish cats didn’t simply lead the twolegs to your camp and you just happened to run into a bunch of rogues? I imagine, in the heat of the moment, these sorts of things can get confused. It’s easy to try to excuse your own mistakes by shoving it onto this fearsome rogue Shadowclan’s gotten all riled up about,” Tigerpelt shrugged and waved a paw dismissively as she turned to lead her clan away. “Good luck.”  
The little apprentice with the red chest, however, remained where he was and stared up at Ashfall and Dovetail with wide eyes before they flickered over to where Springstar was mourning. “Can you go back home?” The tom meowed softly.  
Tigerpelt paused mid-step and her ears swiveled about to listen.  
Dovetail and Ashfall exchanged a glance as both measured what to say carefully. “Not right now, no…” Ashfall spoke up first and hung his head. “You don’t understand… these rogues are clever. They killed Copperblaze and now they’ve killed Snowstorm and harmed many others-“  
Slowly, Tigerpelt’s hackles rose on end and she whirled about on her hindlegs to stare at them both, her green eyes widening ever so slightly. “Copperblaze?” She reiterated.   
Dovetail felt like there was a lump in her throat that, despite her best efforts, could not be swallowed down, but she willed herself to step forward and nod as she told the deputy the whole tale, down to every detail from the mysterious scents, to the patrol, to him being brought back into their camp.  
The patrol could only silently watch and listen. The black tom even sat down, his mouth agape as Ashfall did his best to fill in the details of the battle. Tigerpelt remained as unperturbed as ever, but she did not interrupt and even sat down to listen.   
“So, they’re recruiting?” The Thunderclan deputy finally requested.  
Ashfall nodded. “I was attacked by a cat today that I had never seen before. No doubt he’s finding more rogues to band together for his cause…”  
For a long time, the entire world fell quiet as Tigerpelt lowered her gaze to the ground and remained absolutely silent. Even her patrol seemed shocked by the silence, aside from the red-chested apprentice who quietly slipped away from his own clan despite the black tom’s objections and padded over to where Snowstorm’s corpse lay.  
The cats gathered about their fallen companion bristled at the intruder and stared in disbelief. Springstar even snapped at the little cat, but he only shrunk down and folded back his ears in a display of submission as he inched further forward and pressed his little pink nose into the white tom’s pelt for several seconds.  
“What is he-?” Dovetail hesitated and glanced to the black tom that she figured was the apprentice’s mentor, but he only shook his head in confusion.  
A few more moments past and the apprentice returned, dragging his paws as if they were made of lead. His black and red head was hung low as he returned to his mentor’s side, but he took a moment to glance up into Dovetail’s blue eyes. “We interrupted his time of mourning. He deserved an apology,” the tom explained softly.  
The tom’s voice brought Tigerpelt out of her silence as she looked them all over. Her hatred was plain on her face, but it was tempered by a sort of reservation as her eyes continued to flicker towards where Springstar stood. “Is your leader not well enough to speak with me? What about your deputy? I’d rather not have this discussion with warriors,” she claimed in a slight growl.  
Dovetail and Ashfall exchanged a glance before their hard gazes fell back onto the Thunderclan deputy. “We’re what you’ve got,” Dovetail hissed. “Willowfur is wounded and Springstar would rather not have the mourning period of her own mate disturbed by some Thunderclan curiosities.”  
Tigerpelt pinned her ears back slightly, but she seemed a little less rude now as she looked between them all with green eyes tempered with something that may have been empathy. “Does your clan have a place to return to? I can smell the blood. No doubt you don’t want us to see how weak Riverclan is, but…” the she-cat paused again and looked away, her ears pinned. “No one would ever want to waste their resources to help Riverclan.” She spat the clan name like it was an infectious disease and Dovetail felt a chill run down her spine.  
“We are not what we were,” Ashfall spoke up now as he took a tentative step towards the deputy and bowed his head. “Thistlestar is no more… and Springstar is fair and kind. We are without a home and I fear the rogues may return. We need whatever help you can offer.”  
The black tom beside Tigerpelt stirred nervously and turned his gaze to his deputy. “Tigerpelt, the seasons are changing. I can already smell frost in the air. Before long, it’ll get cold, snowy, and the prey will go into hiding. We’ll struggle to feed ourselves-“  
“That is for Rainstar to decide, not me,” Tigerpelt sighed. “We must show some pity for our fellow clan. You all are permitted to come to our camp for the time being, but whether you can stay will be up to Rainstar, not me,” the tabby she-cat assured them all. “Get ready to move, quickly. Our patrol has already taken longer than it should have and I don’t want to worry Rainstar further.  
Dovetail could have bounded up to the she-cat and licked her face, but refrained out of respect and bowed her own head. “We humbly thank you for this opportunity and I assure you that Riverclan will stay only as long as we need. We understand the struggles of leafbare and wouldn’t dare outlive our welcome.”  
“That’s a surprise,” the she-cat hissed and turned away from them all with a dark flicker in her green eyes. “Don’t think this kindness won’t need to be repaid somehow…” she added over her shoulder as she padded back into her own territory and sat down.  
The black tom offered them all an apologetic glance before nudging the little silver apprentice and his own after Tigerpelt. The tortoiseshell, however, remained where he was and watched them all with wide, skeptical eyes. “Everyone always said that Riverclan were the meanest cats in the forest,” he explained apologetically as he turned his gaze away. “You all just seem like cats…”   
His musings, however, were brought to a conclusion as his mentor more briskly shoved him along with one last nod to Ashfall and Dovetail.  
“Let’s get the clan ready to move,” Dovetail sighed and turned about to look over their pitiful clan once more. It broke her heart to see the collection of cats surrounding Snowstorm with their heads bowed sadly. “Assuming we can pry Springstar away from Snowstorm for a little while…”  
“You know she’ll demand Sunningrocks back,” Ashfall pointed out, his yellow eyes shadowed over in deep contemplation.  
“What choice do we have?”  
Dovetail sped up to go collect everyone and usher them off to the Thunderclan cats. Most went somewhat begrudgingly, but they went until only a handful of the wounded and some helpful souls stayed behind. Hawkshade and Ashfall both went to pick up Sparrowwing and Willowfur with the help of Nightsky and Featherpaw (as much as the little apprentice could) which left Dovetail alone with her daughter.  
She quietly stepped over to Springstar’s side and sat down, her gaze resting on Springstar’s beautiful grey fur for a moment as she considered her words carefully. “Springstar, we’re going to the Thunderclan camp. They’ll keep us safe for now. We can bury Snowstorm there,” Dovetail promised in her sweetest voice that she exclusively reserved for her very young kits. She knelt down and nuzzled into Springstar’s neck as her daughter trembled beside her.  
“We’re all going to die.” Springstar’s voice sounded strained like wind through a nettle patch. She slowly turned to gaze into her mother’s blue eyes, her own eyes wide with a horror Dovetail had never seen before.  
“Nonsense. These are rogues. We are Riverclan, Springstar. We can survive anything. Starclan will be watching over us. Copperblaze and Snowstorm too… we are never alone. What do these rogues have? Only their anger and the fur on their backs,” Dovetail promised softly as she rasped her tongue across Springstar’s head. Inside, her heart was crumbling. She’d never seen her daughter like this. Springstar had always been the queen of optimism, destined to conquer the world, but here she looked defeated and lost.  
Springstar, however, pulled away and shook her head. “Don’t you see? Starclan doesn’t care! Maybe they never did! When we need them most, they’re silent. These rogues are tearing through us. They killed Dad… they killed Snowstorm and we couldn’t do anything about it. What sort of clan-? What sort of leader-?” The she-cat’s voice choked her and she hurriedly hid her face before her grief consumed her.  
Dovetail felt a shudder run down her back as she remembered Copperblaze’s still, lifeless eyes staring up at her. “Don’t say that, Springstar. Starclan’s right here. Copperblaze is right here. He always will be watching over you. Don’t you see that? Every life you have – that’s a Starclan cat watching over you and smiling! You are closer to Starclan than any of us.”  
“And I couldn’t do a thing in the face of Storm’s wrath,” Springstar murmured as her lips drew back into a fierce snarl. “I attacked him. I was convinced I could fight him. He’s big, but he’s just an underfed rogue while I’ve been trained by the best warriors in the forest. I lost! I lost and I would have lost all my lives if Snowstorm hadn’t come in! Even then, I might have lost every life. It took Shadowfrost, Ashfall, and Cinderpaw to save my life! What if they had all died? I’m not that important!”  
“You are our leader and my daughter so take that back!” Dovetail snapped, but the fiery rage did not die from Springstar’s eyes.  
“I shouldn’t have been made leader. Dad would have been better. Ashfall would have been better. You or Willowfur… anyone… I can’t do this!” Springstar snapped as she rose onto all four paws and glared her own mother down. “I’m not a leader! I just want to help my clan and keep them safe! I can’t lead them and encourage them. I can’t even encourage myself!” She howled more loudly, tossing her voice up to the treetops and sending a couple birds darting off into the darkening sky.  
“You were made deputy because of your merits-“  
“I was made deputy by Thistlestar. How legitimate is that?” Springstar hissed. “He wanted me as deputy, too! What does that say about me? He probably thought I’d be easy enough to control and would never threaten his leadership…”  
“Don’t you talk like that!” Dovetail pleaded, her own eyes widening as she now saw just how far into this pit of darkness her daughter had fallen. “Look how far we’ve come! Look what you’ve done to redeem us since Thistlestar’s end. It’s all thanks to you.”  
“The clans hate us! Now they blame Mapleclaw on us too. We are despised, but now we’re not even feared!” Springstar snarled. “I am ruining our clan and I want to step down!” Dovetail tried to interrupt, but Springstar didn’t even seem to be talking to her anymore. She turned away and turned her gaze to the sky as she cried out.   
“Take yours lives back! Take back my name! Take back all of it! Just give me back Copperblaze and Snowstorm! Is this for what we’ve done!?” Her voice almost squeaked as her gaze flickered to Dovetail. Dovetail felt like she was slowly freezing to the place as Springstar’s cold words crept into her very bones. “Are we being punished!? Forgive us! Take my life in repayment! Please! Just give us back what we’ve lost and stop hurting those who don’t deserve it!”  
“Springstar.” The voice was barely a squeak, but it was enough to bring Springstar back from her hysterics. She froze and turned to see Stonepaw standing there, his small face almost consumed by his wide, yellow eyes as his small, brown body quaked with fear. “We need to go…” the tom tried to sound bolder, but he looked like a stray breeze could send him skittering away.  
Springstar flattened her ears and looked away. “Stonepaw…” she hesitated, scrambling for words as desperately as a starving fox clawed after a rabbit. “I’m-“ she paused again and glanced to Dovetail, the desperation as plain on her face as the white of her lower face. “You’re right. Let’s catch up with the rest of the clan, shall we?” Springstar suggested in a gentle purr as she stretched out her neck and touched noses with Stonepaw.  
The little apprentice didn’t look convinced, but offered a bright smile. “Right!” He agreed in perfectly faked enthusiasm. Once Springstar had padded off to lead them to the others, however, the tom turned and looked to Dovetail with a pleading expression. “Please fix her” his eyes seemed to plead before he hurried to follow after his mentor.


End file.
